Just One Drop
by Glykos
Summary: Hermione devises a love potion just for kicks and giggles but things get a little out of hand when Ginny slips the potion to Draco Malfoy. Things even get crazier when Harry and Ron get a little taste of the deadly potion. Just what is a girl to do?
1. That Clever Little Witch

**AN: **Hi, this is my first story and the plot pretty much is that Hermione makes a love potion just for giggles but things go a little crazy when Ginny gives the potion to Draco Malfoy and things get even more out of hand when Ron and Harry get a taste of the love potion. Right now, the pairing is Dramione though it may change because I'm not so sure exactly where this story is going. The rating is T but may change, it all depends. _Please Enjoy_.

**Just One Drop**

_Chapter One: That Clever Little Witch _

A young, redheaded girl paced across the length of her dormitory, occasionally whipping her head to the side to stare at the locked door, thinking that she had heard someone trying to enter only to breathe a sigh of relief when she realized no one was there. To say that Ginny Weasley is nervous would be an understatement. The young Weasley had managed to convince one of her fellow classmates to break a school rule at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Not just any friend but Hermione Granger, prefect and the most brilliant witch at Hogwarts in her year, probably even the whole school. Ginny had somehow managed to persuade Hermione into making a love potion, a potion that is restricted at Hogwarts, by saying that she did not believe Hermione possessed the 'potion making skills' to devise such a potion. Hermione, unable to restrain herself on proving someone wrong, had said she would make the potion and then to get rid of it immediately because love potions are very dangerous.

Ginny glanced at Hermione who was sitting Indian style on the floor, hair tied back in a pony tail as she worked on the potion.

"Ginny, can you please pass me the peppermint?"

"Here you go, Mione," Ginny said as she placed three little green leaves in her friends open palm.

Hermione ripped the leaves into little pieces before adding them to her concoction. She placed her metal ladle back into the cauldron and began to mix the leaves into the potion. The light tan color of the potion began to change to a light lavender as Hermione stirred.

"Is it done?" Ginny breathed in Hermione's ear.

"Almost, I just need one more thing," Hermione said as she removed the ladle from the cauldron.

"What?"

"A little piece of myself," Hermione said as she grabbed a lock of her very own light brown, curly hair. "Can you pass me the scissors, Gin?"

"I thought you only needed bits of people for Polyjuice Potion," Ginny said as she handed Hermione a pair of silver scissors.

"Well, how do you expect the potion to work properly if not one thing hints who made it?" Hermione asked as she cut a lock of her curly hair off.

"So, your hair is what makes them fall in love with you?" Ginny asked as Hermione dropped the curly strands of hair into the cauldron.

"Exactly," Hermione beamed as she began to stir the potion.

The creamy lavender potion immediately changed to a light pink in color, the solid becoming a liquid. Wisp of pink fumes began to rise from the surface, sending alluring smells to the two young girls' nostrils.

"I would say it is complete to perfection," Hermione said smugly, smiling.

"Well, you said that you could do," Ginny said though she already knew Hermione could do it. Of course she could, Hermione is the brightest witch of her age. What Ginny really wanted was to test Hermione's little potion, to see just how good it would work.

"The question is, what are we going to do with it?" Ginny asked as she leaned in to inhale the alluring fumes radiating from the potion.

Hermione quickly slammed the lid on the mouth of the cauldron, giving Ginny a disapproving look.

"Ginerva Weasley, drugging people with love potion is against the school rules as you know and so is making them in the girls' dormitory! You are very lucky that I let you talk me into this in the first place! Now that I made this wretched potion I will get rid of it!" Hermione said in her prefect voice that she reserved for scolding students and discussions about S.P.E.W.

Ginny looked disappointed as she began to plead, "But, Mione think of all the fun we coul"—

"No, Ginny," Hermione said as she began looking for her wand. "Oh, damn. I left my wand in my room. I'll be right back to get rid of the potion," She said before hurrying out of Ginny's dormitory.

Ginny quickly ran to her trunk at the foot of her four-poster bed, rummaging through it before pulling out an empty flask. She ran over to the cauldron and removed the lid. She touched the surface with the tip of her wand, slowly raising it so that a strand of the pink potion attached itself to the tip of her wand. She quickly dispensed the pink potion into the flask, filling it to the brim before quickly placing the lid back over the cauldron and hiding the flask in her trunk.

She heard Hermione enter the room just as she closed the lid to her trunk. She turned around quickly to grimace at her friend, keeping the sullen look so that Hermione wouldn't be suspicious.

Hermione sighed as she removed the lid from the cauldron. "Ginny, it's for the best. This potion could be very dangerous," Hermione said seriously as she made the potion disappear with a wave of her wand.

"I'll see you around Gin, I have an exam in Arithmacy on Wednesday," Hermione said before turning to leave.

"Hermione!" Ginny called before her friend left.

"Yes?" Hermione replied, turning to face Ginny.

"How strong would you say that potion was?"

Hermione smiled slightly. "Very strong, Ginny. Just one drop could even get Draco Malfoy to fall in love with me," Hermione said before leaving.

Ginny smiled wickedly to herself as she took the little flask from her trunk, examining it closely. "I wonder, how much of a love potion would Draco Malfoy need to fall in love with Hermione Granger?"

* * *

><p>"Dean," Ginny said quietly, sitting behind her boyfriend as he worked on his essay for Snape.<p>

"Yes?"

Ginny wrapped her legs around Dean's waste, wrapping her arms around his middle as she buried her face in his back.

"What do you want, Gin?" Dean asked, sounding amused.

Ginny rested her chin on Dean's shoulder, her hands traveling up so she could run her fingers along his chest affectionately. "Do you think you can get me some firewhiskey?" She whispered softly.

"No, Ginny," Dean said dismissively.

Ginny planted a soft kiss on Dean's neck, pushing her hands under his shirt so that she could feel his smooth chest. "Please," she whispered before kissing his neck again.

"You're going to be the death of me, woman," Dean chuckled, removing her arms and legs so he can turn to face her.

"How is that?" She murmured, slipping into his lap so that she straddled his waste, wrapping her arms and legs around him once more. Ginny began kissing along Dean's neck, unbuttoning his shirt in the process.

"Well, one, you are wearing a skirt. Two, you are being _very_ alluring. And three, Ron will surely kill me if I'm the one to deflower his baby sister," Dean listed as Ginny attempted to remove his shirt.

"Get me the firewhiskey and you won't have to worry about having all six of my brothers beat you to death," Ginny replied as she pushed his shirt down his shoulders, revealing his bare chest.

"Ginny," Dean said in a warning tone, pulling his shirt back on.

"Fine then, you can keep your clothing on all you want," Ginny said as she began to unbutton her own shirt, her fingers moving slowly as she revealed more and more of the purple bra she was wearing.

Dean swallowed visibly, unable to take his eyes off of her. "Your brothers will kill me."

"You don't care."

"You're fifteen."

"We both don't care."

"You can get pregnant."

"I've already taken care of that."

"I can"—

"Just kiss me already," Ginny said as her shirt fell to the ground.

Dean wrapped his arms around her slim frame, pulling Ginny against his chest before kissing her. Ginny tightened her legs around Dean's waste as he began to trail kisses down her neck.

"Will you get me the firewhiskey, Dean?" Ginny whispered as he began trailing kisses along her chest.

Dean pulled away to look her in the eye. They stared at each other for a long moment before Dean nodded. Ginny smiled before pulling him into another kiss.

* * *

><p>Ginny blew on Hermione's toes before smiling at her friend. "There? Aren't they beautiful?"<p>

Hermione looked away from her book to look at her newly painted toes. "They're exquisite, Gin," Hermione said, smiling before putting her book down and sitting up so that her legs dangled off the side of Ginny's bed.

Ginny moved to kneel behind Hermione, playing with her dark hair. "You know Hermione; you would look really pretty if you used different hair products to bring out the color of your hair. The right products will make your hair shine and add volume to it. Imagine your hair, golden like honey against your porcelain skin. With the right creams, your skin can glow as if you are a Veela," Ginny said as she twisted Hermione's hair up in a bun.

"What's the point?"

"You could probably get a boyfriend or something."

"I don't want a boyfriend or something," Hermione said as she stared at her reflection.

"Why don't you do anything with your hair? It's so pretty and you just leave it. You should doll yourself up every once in a while, you have such a pretty face and you never show it off," Ginny said as she trailed a finger down Hermione's cheek.

Hermione tilted her head to the side, examining her face…It wouldn't hurt to look nice every once in a while…

Hermione closed her eyes and shook her head, a small smile on her face. "You can give me a makeover if you want."

Ginny smiled widely before hurrying over to her dresser to grab her wand and a bag of cosmetics. Hermione tried her best not to panic when Ginny dumped her rather large bag, spilling various creams, lotions, tools, and make up items along the bed.

Ginny placed her hands on Hermione's tense shoulders, bending over so that their faces were level with each other. They both stared at their reflections in the mirror as Ginny squeezed Hermione's shoulder affectionately. "Don't worry your pretty little head, when I'm done with you even Draco Malfoy will be drooling after you."

* * *

><p>"Here you go, Gin."<p>

Ginny looked up from the magazine she was reading to see a little glass bottle of firewhiskey in her face. She tilted her head back slightly to see Dean standing above her.

"I didn't expect you to get it so soon!" Ginny said, quickly taking the bottle and examining it.

"Put that away! I don't want Ron trying to kick my arse!" Dean hissed.

"Don't worry," Ginny said, stowing the bottle in her robes, "as long as you don't try to deflower me, Ron will be fine."

"We don't have to worry about that," Dean said, a trace of bitterness in his voice.

"My virtue is all I have Dean, you can't expect me to give it away so freely. You may leave now," Ginny said coolly, going back to reading her magazine.

* * *

><p>Ginny applied blush to her cheeks quickly, spreading the light pink powder across her pale cheeks. She put the brush down and picked up her mascara, running the bristles against her orange lashes. Once her lashes were dark and long enough, she put the little bottle down and looked over her reflection. Ginny adjusted her halter top so that she wasn't showing too much cleavage.<p>

"I am not dressing up for Draco Malfoy," Ginny whispered to herself again.

It is nearly midnight on a Friday night, Hermione had made her love potion nearly a week ago and Ginny decided that it is about time that the potion is put to good use. She has a plan to get Draco Malfoy to consume the potion. The plan would most likely not work but, hey, at least it's a start.

Ginny tiptoed over to her trunk and retrieved the flask of love potion and the bottle of firewhiskey before quietly entering the bathroom attached to her dormitory. Ginny placed the flask down on the counter near the sink and opened the bottle of firewhiskey.

Ginny contemplated pouring half of the drink down the sink before shrugging and raising the bottle to reach her painted lips. Ginny took a rather large gulp, drinking much to fast. She choked on the firewhiskey, pounding a fist on her chest as she struggled to catch her breath.

Ginny cleared her throat, as the warmth of the firewhiskey spread through her chest. She took a deep breath before bringing the mouth of the bottle back to her lips, drinking much slower. When Ginny had drunk her fill, she removed the bottle from her lips to see how much was left.

Half of the firewhiskey was gone…no problem, she would just fill the rest with the love potion. Ginny quickly grabbed the flask and carefully poured the love potion into the bottle of firewhiskey. Once the firewhiskey bottle was completely Ginny screwed the lid back on and shook the drink to mix it well. She slipped the bottle of firewhiskey in her back pocket and placed the remains of the love potion back in her truck.

Ginny quietly left her room, went down stairs, through the portrait hole, and out to find Draco Malfoy. Malfoy would be on prefect duty tonight with Pansy Parkinson and Padma Patil and had devised a plan to get him on his own so she can slip him the firewhiskey.

Ginny made her way to the first floor, towards the Hufflepuff common room. A party had been started in the Hufflepuff common room around nine and Ginny had attended the party for a few hours before she realized that it would be a perfect excuse for Malfoy to catch her with firewhiskey. Surely Malfoy knew about the party and wouldn't be able to resist the firewhiskey. So, Ginny told Michael Conner that she would see him on Saturday and headed back to her common room.

As Ginny made her way down the hallway that lead to the kitchens, she heard someone hurrying up the stairs. She quickly pressed herself against the wall and strained her ears to catch every word.

"Draco! I'm sorry! You can fuck Greengrass all you want! I don't care! Please come back!" Pansy Parkinson called as she hurried up the stairs.

Ginny made a face of disgust before drawing her wand. She quietly made her way out of the corridor and up the stairs, aiming her wand at Parkinson's back. "_Stupefy_," she whispered, sending a jet of red light escaped her wand and caught Parkinson right in the back.

Ginny watched with satisfaction as Parkinson tumbled to the ground, her face connecting with the hard marble stairs. Parkinson's nose was undoubtedly broken and Ginny wouldn't mind leaving it like that but decided it would be best to cover her tracks.

Ginny approached the Slytherine and kicked her over so that she lay face up. Parkinson's nose wasn't broken but her lip was bleeding profoundly. Ginny sighed before pointing her wand at Parkinson's mouth and whispering, "_Episkey_."

The cut instantly mended itself, sealing back together. There still was the problem of the blood…Ginny racked her brain for a spell that can clean up blood before saying, "Oh!" She pointed her wand at the blood on Parkinson's face and said, "_Tergeo!_" Ginny waved her wand over Parkinson's face and shirt, watching as the blood vanished.

"I guess I can't leave you here," Ginny muttered before saying, "_Locomoter_!" with a wave of her wand, Pansy Parkinson was lifted a few feet off the floor. Ginny aimed her wand at Parkinson's lank form as she walked, moving Parkinson along with her. The young Weasley found a nice spot on the fifth floor to store Parkinson behind a suit of armor.

"Now all I have to do is find Malfoy," Ginny said as she made her way down to the fifth floor.

It didn't take long for Ginny to find Malfoy, she found him walking along a corridor on the third floor, looking very annoyed and bored. His eyes lit up instantly when he saw Ginny walking along the corridor.

"What are you doing out of bed Weasley? Isn't it past your bed time?" Malfoy drawled as he advanced on her.

Ginny turned to give Malfoy a look of annoyance. "What do you want Malfoy? I'm on my way back to Gryffindor Tower, leave me alone," Ginny said before turning to walk away.

"I could report you," Malfoy said, standing in Ginny's way.

"Have fun doing that," Ginny said, trying to walk past him but he grabbed her arm and pushed her against the wall.

"Hasn't mommy taught you how to play nice?" Ginny asked coldly as she tried to push past him but he wouldn't budge.

"Why are you all dressed up? Went to that Hufflepuff party?" Malfoy asked, using his wand to push Ginny's hair behind her shoulder.

"You better watch out Malfoy, you don't want your Death Eater friends finding out that you're talking to a blood traitor, now do you?" Ginny asked as she calmly leaned against the wall, ignoring how close he is.

Malfoy leaned in so that his face is mere centimeters from hers, his cold silver eyes boring into her warm brown ones. "I don't think they'd mind, seeing as you have something I want," Malfoy said, his arm encircling around her waist.

Ginny moved to push him away but he was gone before she could act, standing a few feet away with the glass bottle of laced firewhiskey in his hand. "Thought you could hide this from me, didn't you Weasley?" Malfoy taunted as he dangled the bottle in her face.

Ginny made a halfhearted attempt to snatch the bottle back but he moved it. "Uh-uh-uh, I don't think so. Who knew a Weasley could afford firewhiskey, let alone clothes? I think I'll be keeping this," Malfoy said, smirking maliciously.

Ginny glared at Malfoy as she pushed herself from against the wall, roughly bumping into him with her shoulder. "Fuck you," she spat before storming away.

"I think I'd quiet fancy that," Malfoy called after her as he opened the bottle of firewhiskey.

"Don't forget to save that!" Ginny called as she turned to see Malfoy take a rather long drink. Smiling to herself, Ginny hurried back towards Gryffindor tower, imagining what could possibly happen in the next couple of weeks.


	2. Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

**AN: **Well, now that I covered the background, this is when the story starts to get a bit interesting. _Thank you for reading, and enjoy._

**Just One Drop **

_Chapter Two: Here we are now, entertain us_

"He keeps staring," Hermione whispered, turning her head so that no one could see the movement of her lips.

"Everyone is staring, get used to it. That's what happens to beautiful people," Ginny said with a small smile.

"Draco Malfoy never stares at girls. Let alone me," Hermione whispered, glancing at Malfoy. He smiled when their eyes made contact, raising his hand in a small wave. Hermione quickly looked back at her food and began to eat her toast.

"He stared at you at the Yule Ball," Ginny reasoned, trying to hide her smirk.

"What are you smirking about?" Hermione demanded irritably.

"Nothing, I just don't get it. You're beautiful and even Ron is appreciating it. What's the problem?"

Hermione touched the smooth skin of her porcelain face, thinking about what Ginny had said. The new hair products did make her hair look nicer, turning the light brown to a rich honey color that made her porcelain face look delicate, like a flower. The moisturizer and face cream that Ginny had talked Hermione into ordering did make her skin glow like a Veela, adding to her delicate beauty.

"Hermione, you didn't put on your lipstick this morning," Ginny said, rummaging in her book bag.

"Ginny, I really don't see the need," Hermione said politely, not having much liking for the stuff.

"It's okay, this one is a lot lighter than the ones I had you try the other day. I think the lighter color will go along with the whole delicate flower look you got going on. This lipstick is made by Muggles so it won't last that long," Ginny said as she began to apply the lipstick to Hermione's full lips.

"Look at yourself!" Ginny encouraged. "The color is called _Pink Hermosa_. Hermosa is Spanish for beautiful and it is certainly beautiful on you! Go one, look at yourself," Ginny said again before turning back to her food.

Hermione reached into her book bag and pulled out a hand sized mirror. For the first time in her six years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hermione Granger had a mirror in her book bag. She felt ridiculous and conceited as she looked at her reflection, seeing the way the _Pink Hermosa_ lipstick looked natural on her lips, as if she wasn't wearing lipstick at all.

Despite herself, Hermione smiled over at Ginny before shoving her mirror back in her book bag. "Well, I have to go to Arithmacy," Hermione said as she began to stand up. As Hermione picked her book bag up, one of the straps ripped. "Oh damn," Hermione muttered, fishing in her bag for her wand.

"I can't find my wand!" Hermione whined as she searched through her bag.

"Why not?" Harry asked, standing up to help Hermione.

"I put an undetectable expansion charm on my bag so I can fit all of books in at a time!" Hermione said.

"I'll fix it for you," Ron said, pulling out his wand.

"_Rapero_," Harry said with a wave of his wand before Ron could do it.

"Harry!" Ron complained, playfully pushing his best friend.

"You two are so silly. Can someone please summon my wand?" Hermione asked as Ron and Harry continued to play around.

While everyone was distracted, Ginny quickly took out the flask of love potion and poured the remains of it in Ron's pumpkin juice. The young Weasley quickly stowed the empty flask in her book bag as Ron summoned Hermione's wand for her. Ginny looked off to the side as Ron and Harry sat back down, humming to herself.

"Well, I'm off to class!" Hermione said as she picked her book bag up.

"Don't go yet, we still have fifteen minutes before class," Ron said.

"Exactly, that's just enough time for me to get ready for class," Hermione said.

"Goodbye Mione!" Ginny said first, Ron and Harry following suit.

Just as Hermione began to leave, Harry began to cough pretty badly, pounding on his chest as he reached out for a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Hey, that's my pumpkin juice!" Ron protested but Harry had already taken a large mouthful. "Oh, sorry," Harry said as he gave the goblet back to Ron.

Ginny's eyes widened with horror as Harry passed the Goblet back to Ron, thinking, '_Oh shit!'_

"I don't want it now! Your Chosen One saliva is all over it! I don't want your curse!"

"Then I suppose it's mine," Harry said as he took the goblet back. "This is the best pumpkin juice I've ever tasted."

"Then I want it back," Ron said before quickly snatching the goblet back and quickly drinking it all. When Ron finished, he slammed the goblet down victoriously, smiling foolishly.

Harry stared off to space, a dreamy expression on his face, his mouth slightly open. "Harry, are you okay?" Ron asked before his face went blank too and he stared off to space with Harry.

"Oh, no," Ginny whispered as Harry stood up.

"I think I'm going to walk Hermione to her class," Harry said before hurrying off.

"Ron, are you okay?" Ginny asked quietly, shaking her brother's shoulder.

"I think I'll go and walk Hermione to class too. See you later, Gin," Ron said as he got up and hurried after his friends.

"This should be very entertaining," Ginny said as she watched Ron hurry out of the Great Hall to catch up with Harry and Hermione.

Oo0oO

Today had been a very peculiar day for Hermione Granger, very peculiar indeed. After every class, Harry and Ron would be running toward her, arguing over who should hold Hermione's book bag as they walked her to class. Harry had tried to hold her hand on their way to Potions and Ron had kissed her on the cheek.

Things got even weirder as Hermione went to her seat in Potions to find Draco Malfoy sitting in Ernie Macmillan's usual seat, _smiling_ at her. Hermione tried to ignore him at first but he insisted on cutting her mandrakes up for the stew.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione asked, exasperated.

"What is it Hermione? I just want to help you," Malfoy said earnestly.

"I'm a Mudblood, you hate Mudbloods. We're dirty, remember?"

"Don't say that Hermione, you're too pure to be called a Mudblood," Malfoy said.

"You can leave now," Hermione said as she began to ladle the stewed mandrakes into her potion.

"No," Malfoy said as he began to work on his own potion.

They worked in silence for the rest of the class, until they both had finished their Volubilis Potion.

"Do you want to try mine?" Malfoy whispered.

"We're not supposed to try it," Hermione responded icily.

"I'll try yours first then," Malfoy said before taking her ladle and sipping some of the potion.

"Malfoy!" Hermione gasped, placing a hand over her open mouth.

"_What_?" Malfoy asked, his voice a lot higher than usual. He sounded as if he had inhaled quite a lot of helium.

Hermione tried to keep her mouth in a straight line of disapproval but, as Malfoy began to sing 'Do the Hippogriff' by the Weird Sisters, she couldn't help but to laugh.

"I'll try yours," Hermione said with a wide smile as she leaned over and ladled some of Malfoy's potion into her mouth.

"**How do I sound**?" Hermione asked, her voice much deeper and masculine than before.

Malfoy burst out into laughter that sounded very strange in his newly acquired, high pitch voice. Hermione began to laugh with him, her usually girlish giggle rumbling like thunder through the classroom.

Malfoy began to sing 'Magic Works,' by the Weird Sisters and Hermione joined in, their new voices sounding odd together. The entire class began to watch with confusion as Malfoy grabbed Hermione's hand and spun her around before pulling her against his chest, one hand holding her hand and the other on the small of her back as they began to dance.

"Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy, it is nice to see that your potions work. You may bring up a vial now," Professor Slughorn said, interrupting their singing and dancing.

Hermione quickly stepped away from Malfoy when she felt the eyes of all of her classmates on her. "**Sorry Professor**," Hermione said in her incredibly deep voice, causing her and Malfoy to break down in fits of laughter once again.

Once their laughter died down, Hermione glanced over at Ron and Harry. Harry was glaring at Malfoy, gripping his ladle so tightly that his knuckles turned white and Ron was glaring at Malfoy too, his ears a dangerous shade of red.

A light pink blush spread through Hermione's cheeks as she hurried to her cauldron, quickly filling her vial with potion and turning it in to Slughorn. Slughorn offered her an antidote but Hermione replied that she would let it wear off on its own.

When Malfoy returned to her table, Hermione tried her best to ignore him during the rest of the period but found that nearly impossible as Malfoy tried to grab her hand. Hermione snatched her hand away from him, mouthing 'stop.'

"_No_," Malfoy squeaked, his voice still a lot higher than usual.

"**Why**?" Hermione asked quietly, her voice rumbling in her chest.

"_I love you_," Malfoy said earnestly, causing Hermione to glare at him.

"**That's not funny Malfoy**!" She chastened him.

"_I really do, Hermione. Why don't you believe me_?" Draco asked as he took her hand in both of his.

"**One, your voice is too comical to have anything you say taken seriously. Two, you're Draco Malfoy, the most pompous, arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic, spoiled, pureblood brat that I know. You would never love someone like me**," Hermione said, snatching her hand away once again.

"_You're so adorable when you're insulting me_," Malfoy said in his high pitched voice, reaching out a hand to caress Hermione's pale cheek.

Hermione felt herself being dragged away from Malfoy's touch by one arm wrapped around her waste and another around her middle. Hermione turned to look over her shoulder, seeing Ron glower at Malfoy as he protectively wrapped his arms around Hermione's waste.

"Back off Malfoy," Ron growled menacingly, a tone Hermione has never heard Ron use.

"_Or what Weasley? You're going to sick the Chosen One on me_?" Malfoy sneered, the malice slightly marred by his high pitched voice.

"**Ron, it's fine**," Hermione said, trying to extract herself from Ron's grasp but he wouldn't budge.

"Just leave her alone, Malfoy, or I'll hex that stupid smirk off your face," Ron threatened.

"_You don't have the balls, Weasley_," Malfoy squeaked, taking a step forward.

Hermione quickly stepped in front of Malfoy, spreading her arms protectively. She had no idea what she was doing but she knew that she couldn't let Ron harm Malfoy when Malfoy had did nothing wrong, even if he is a prat.

"Oh, look at the time! You are all dismissed!" Slughorn called.

"Let's go, Mione," Ron said, taking Hermione by the hand and quickly walking away, dragging her along with him.

"Ron, my bag"—Hermione began.

"I got it," Harry said as he appeared beside her, placing a protective hand on her shoulder as they exited the dungeons.

When they had reached the stairs, Hermione yanked her hand away from Ron. "I don't know if you two have noticed or not, but I am perfectly capable of taking care of _myself_," Hermione seethed.

"Calm down, Mione. We were just trying to help," Harry said gently, cupping her cheek in his hand as he brushed his thumb along her cheekbone.

Hermione pulled her face away a bit awkwardly, bewildered by their behavior. "Just give me my damn bag," She said, holding out her hand.

Harry stood behind her quickly, holding up her bag so that she only had to slip her arms through the straps. Hermione slowly slipped her hands through the straps, perplexed.

Harry then wound an arm around her waste, pulling her along side him as they headed for Gryffindor tower. Ron quickly grabbed her hand as they walked, gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

Hermione tried to ignore all the stares they were getting and all the snide comments from the Slytherine girls as they made their way to their common room.

"Is that Hermione Granger with Potter and Weasley?"

"What a bint."

"How grotty."

Oh great, more gossip. That's exactly what she needs, Slytherines spreading rumors about her sleeping with Harry _and_ Ron.

Hermione could feel her face burning as everyone gave her disgusted stares, she could feel her eyes begin to burn as her own friends glanced at her like she was something disgusting. She quickly extracted herself from Harry and Ron's hold.

"I have to go to the loo," She said quickly before hurrying away.

Hermione hurried to the second floor, running into the girl's bathroom. She looked around once she entered, looking for any sign of Moaning Myrtle.

Hermione slowly made her way to the sink, stopping in front of the one she knew led to the Chamber of Secrets. She looked in the dirty mirror at her reflection, touching the side of her neck, staring at herself.

_What a bint._

Before Hermione could control herself, she began to cry. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, smearing her makeup that Ginny had so carefully done for her, leaving ugly black stains on her cheeks. Seeing her reflection, Hermione began to cry harder, chocking on her breath as she tried to calm down.

"You look pretty today."

Hermione quickly whipped her head around to see Moaning Myrtle floating by the bathroom stalls, staring intently at her.

"What do you mean? Look at me! I'm a mess!"

Myrtle floated over to Hermione, leaving a hand floating over Hermione's shoulder since she really couldn't rest it there. "You're still beautiful," Myrtle said quietly.

Hermione looked quizzically at Myrtle, not understanding where this was coming from. She doesn't know the ghost that well but she knows her enough to know that Myrtle doesn't give out compliment s or try to make people feel better. Myrtle is usually stuck in her own world of despair, sulking in the U-bend as she cries out her sorrows.

"Why are you saying this?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno…I saw you earlier and thought you were beautiful and I noticed how you got Harry's attention. I was jealous at first and hated you for it but…When I heard you crying, I felt different. Funny, huh?"

And then she floated away, disappearing into one of the stalls. Hermione heard the water in the toilet splash, not the usual dramatic splash of water as she hurries away, but a small splash.

"Today is extremely odd," Hermione said before glancing at her reflection again.

She gasped when she saw the mess her face had become. Hermione quickly began searching through her bag before pulling out her makeup bag. She quickly cleaned her face and applied some mascara, leaving the eyeliner and powder alone. Hermione stared at her reflection for a long time before pulling out the _Pink Hermosa_ Ginny had given her. She applied the lipstick to her lips, feeling ridiculous but beautiful.

Oo0oO

"No, no, no. It's pronounced Eh-_waz_," Hermione said, adding stress on the last syllable.

"Ek-wash," Harry tried again.

Hermione laughed, shaking her head. Hermione had went to the library after her talk with Myrtle and stayed there for the rest of the day. She returned to Gryffindor Tower after dinner to find only Harry in the common room. Somehow, during there conversation, Hermione had decided to teach Harry how to pronounce Ancient Ruins and he is failing miserably.

As Hermione laughed, Harry slipped closer to her. They were sitting on the couch so that they faced one another, their knees touching as Harry slid closer. Hermione leaned forward, her head resting on Harry's shoulder as she laughed. Hermione sat up when she calmed down, smiling widely as she attempted to get Harry to pronounce it correctly.

"Okay, watch my tongue as I pronounce it," Hermione said, straightening her back as she prepared to speak. "Ek"—Hermione began but she never got to finish, for Harry had leaned forward and kissed her.

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise as Harry's hand gently cupped her cheek, as his mouth softly pressed against hers, slowly opening and closing around her stagnant lips. Hermione found herself able to relax into the kiss, found herself able to wrap her arms around Harry's neck and kiss him back.

Harry smiled into the kiss when she began to kiss him back, wrapping an arm around her waste as he pulled her warm body against his. Hermione shuddered as Harry ran his tongue along her bottom lip, hesitating for a moment before opening her mouth slightly to allow him entrance.

Harry slid his tongue slowly into her mouth, allowing his tongue to stroke hers as he explored her mouth. The contact seemed to jolt Hermione back to her senses, causing her to jerk away.

Hermione stood up quickly, covering her mouth with one hand as she stared at Harry in surprise, at the _Pink Hermosa_ smudged on his lips.

"What's wrong, Mione?" Harry asked, looking worried as she continued to gape at him.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Harry but this is a mistake. A _huge_ mistake," Hermione said before turning to run up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Ginny!" Hermione shouted as she barged into the young Weasley's dormitory.

Ginny popped up, yawning as she observed Hermione. The young girl sighed before laying back down, pulling the covers over her small frame as she snuggled into her pillow. Some of the other fifth years in Ginny's dormitory woke up, glaring at Hermione before turning over in their beds, trying to go back to sleep.

"Ginny, I have to talk to you. It's urgent," Hermione whispered, kneeling beside the girl's bed.

"It can wait till the morning," Ginny said sleepily, turning her back on Hermione.

"No, seriously. You're going to hate me for it but I have to tell you right now or I will drown in guilt," Hermione whispered urgently.

"I'm sure it can wait for the morning Mione…Now go to sleep, you don't want dark circles under your pretty little"—

"I kissed Harry."

"_What?"_ Ginny screamed in a very high pitched voice, jumping out of bed.

Hermione backed up as Ginny grabbed her wand, clenching her teeth a she tried to calm down. "What did you say?" She hissed through clenched teeth.

Hermione eyed Ginny's wand nervously, aware of how excellent Ginny is at casting the Bat-Bogey Hex and of all the fifth year girls sitting up in their beds, watching eagerly as Ginny advanced on Hermione.

Thinking fast, Hermione pointed her wand at Ginny and said, "_Expelliarmus_," before Ginny could react. Ginny's wand flew out of her hand and into Hermione's.

"Give me my wand Hermione!" Ginny shouted, stepping forward as she tried to snatch it back from Hermione.

"Not unless you talk to me calmly and sanely like a normal human being!" Hermione shouted as she held the wand out of Ginny's grasp.

"Fine," Ginny huffed, pushing her red hair out of her eyes.

"Okay, follow me," Hermione said before leading the way to the lavatory.

"Mufffaliato," Hermione said, pointing her wand at the bathroom door.

Ginny stood, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, as Hermione sat down on the counter next to the sink.

"Explain," Ginny said curtly.

"Well…Harry and Ron have been acting very weird toward me today. They've been walking me to every class, offering to hold my book bag, kissing me on the cheek, and even trying to hold my hand. I supposed it was just this stupid makeover but then Draco began to talk to me in Potions"—

"Draco?"

"I mean Malfoy. Malfoy began to talk to me in Potions…He cut up my Mandrakes for my potion and even tried my Volubilis Potion that made his voice very high pitched. He even began to sing to make me laugh so…I tried his and it made my voice very deep. Then…we kind of sang and danced together," Hermione admitted quietly.

"What?" Ginny said, unable to stop the small smile from spreading across her voice even though she is very angry with Hermione.

"He even put his hand on my waist without getting sick!" Hermione said in surprise, smiling.

"Than what happened?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"Well, I noticed everyone was watching so I…stopped. After turning in my potion, Draco tried to be nice to me again but I wouldn't let him…Then Ron pulled me away. He and Draco had a row before Slughorn dismissed us. On the way to Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ron both had their arms wrapped around me and I was getting very nasty looks from everyone. Not just the Slytherines, but even Gryffindors," Hermione said, sniffling.

"It's okay Mione, they're just jealous because you were with the _Chosen One_. For get about them."

"Well, I walked away from Harry and Ron and spent the rest of the day in the library," Hermione said, leaving out her time in the bathroom, not wanting Ginny to know that she had cried over those petty girls.

"Then what?"

"Well…I came back after dinner and the Common Room was empty…Well, except for Harry. We talked for a bit and…He wanted to learn how to pronounce some words in ancient ruins…and while I was teaching him…we…" Hermione trailed off, her cheeks burning a she studied her fingers intently.

"He kissed you," Ginny finished for her, a lot more softly than Hermione expected.

"And I kissed him back," Hermione said, mortified.

Ginny sighed before wrapping her arms around her friend, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "It's okay, as long as you didn't give him tongue."

Hermione winced as Ginny pulled away, looking guilty as ever.

"You did, didn't you! You little vixen!" Ginny said accusingly though there was no true malice to her words, just joking between two friends.

Hermione gave a little grimace. "I pulled away as soon as I realized what he was doing, what I was letting him do. I apologized and ran straight to you."

"It's okay, I forgive you Mione. Have fun, just not too much fun," Ginny said with a knowing smirk before taking her wand and leaving Hermione alone in the lavatory.

Hermione stared after Ginny in shock; she had expected a more…violent reaction. She had not expected Ginny to tell her to have fun with Harry. What is going on?

Just like what Myrtle had said…Funny, huh?


	3. Pretty Girls are Hideously Dangerous

**AN:** Well, I've decided that this fic will stay Dramione. I was bored during my calculus class one day and decided to come up with an end for this story and it's definitely going to be a Dramione fic.

**Just One Drop**

_Chapter Three: Pretty Girls are Hideously Dangerous_

Hermione kept her eyes down as she continued to take notes as Snape lectured them on the importance of Defensive Spells, ignoring Harry's hand on her knee…ignoring Ron's hand on her lower back.

She found it impossible to concentrate, not because Ron and Harry are touching her inappropriately, and definitely not because Harry had kissed her the night before but…Because of _the note_.

Hermione had went down to eat breakfast early so she could leave to class early without Ron and Harry trying to hold her hand or walk her to class. Harry and Ron had arrived late to the breakfast table, missing the post…Missing the fact that a letter was delivered to Hermione from none other than Draco Malfoy.

The note had read: _Granger, meet me by the lake at Six o'clock. Don't be late._

He didn't even bother signing the note, the prick. Though Hermione discarded the note immediately, shoving it into her bag to throw away later, she found herself constantly thinking about it. She wondered what Malfoy wanted to talk about, why he had went back to calling her Granger when he so confidently called her Hermione the other day…

"Hermione, it's time for lunch," Harry said, interrupting her thoughts.

Hermione jumped in shock, looking down at her empty parchment. "Oh, damn! I didn't take any notes!"

"It's okay, you can copy mine!" Ron volunteered quickly.

"No, copy mine. My hand writing is neater," Harry said quickly.

"Lets go to lunch," Hermione said, deciding not to encourage them.

"I got your bag," Harry said quickly.

"It's fine," Hermione said as she picked her bag up and walked away.

At first it was amusing, but now things were getting just plain annoying. Hermione just wanted to spend some time away from Harry and Ron…some time with someone else, someone different.

"I need to get something out of my room. I'll meet you in the Great Hall," Hermione said before walking up the stairs, to the seventh floor, before they could say something.

Hermione hurried into her room, quickly dropping her bag on the floor and walking over to the full body length mirror hanging on the opposite wall, fixing hr makeup.

"Hello Hermione."

Hermione jumped in surprise, looking over at Lavender Brown. Lavender lay across her bed, stretched out comfortably as she observed Hermione intently.

"Oh, hello Lavender. I hadn't seen you lying there," Hermione said as she grabbed her lipstick and turned to face the mirror once again.

"Who are you dolling yourself up for?" Lavender asked, turning her eyes to the ceiling. "Ron?" She asked quickly, turning her head to look at Hermione so she could see the other Gryffindor's reaction.

Hermione froze in shock, looking at Lavender's reflection in the mirror. "No…I'm actually going to walk around the grounds by myself. I need to clear my head," Hermione said slowly as she applied her lipstick.

"Oh," Lavender said, sitting up. "Then, you wouldn't mind walking with me to the Great Hall before you head off," Lavender said, smiling, her attitude towards Hermione becoming less hostile, friendly.

"Sure," Hermione said, smiling, as Lavender held out her arm.

Hermione awkwardly locked arms with Lavender before they set off for the Great Hall. On the way, Lavender began to talk about all kinds of beauty creams and potions and boys. She went on about every boy she found attractive, what she thinks they like in a girl and how cute she thinks Ron is.

Hermione felt a twinge of annoyance as Lavender whispered about how brilliant it would be to snog Ron.

"I mean…He has a really handsome face; his nose is kind of long but I think he's beautiful. And I love the way his blue eyes sparkle," Lavender whispered as they stopped before the entrance to the Great Hall.

Hermione plastered a smile on her face, hoping it looked genuine. "Well, it was nice talking to you Lavender"—Hermione began.

"I have a secret to tell you Hermione, something I haven't told anyone. Promise not to tell?" Lavender said quietly with a small smile.

Hermione, slightly taken aback, opened her mouth in surprise. She had never been close to Lavender and didn't expect Lavender to trust her to the degree but nodded anyway.

"I think the best looking boy at this school is Draco Malfoy…If he wasn't such a prat, I'd give him a chance. I mean, I am a pureblood and all so there shouldn't be any trouble with that but he's just too cruel," Lavender said before laughing.

Hermione couldn't help but to join in and laugh with Lavender, not because she thinks Draco Malfoy is the most attractive boy at school but because Lavender said that she would give Malfoy a chance. As if Malfoy would ever choose _her_.

Hermione suddenly stopped laughing, ashamed of herself from thinking so poorly of her fellow Gryffindor.

"Well, I will see you later Hermione," Lavender said before leaning in to give Hermione a tight hug. "I've enjoyed talking to you."

Hermione returned the hug wholeheartedly to make up for the rude thought before letting Lavender go. Hermione watched as Lavender walked away, her eyes watching the way her dirty blond curls bounced as she walked, watching the way her hips swung as she moved forward. Hermione then looked down at her lower half, noticing her narrow her own hips are…how she lacked a figure. Would anyone be attracted to her stick figure? Would Draco Malfoy even look—?

Hermione stopped that thought before she could even go there, inwardly scolding herself. Feeling very self-conscious, Hermione flattened her skirt and turned to leave. Hermione froze as she took her first step, feeling a little prick on the back of her neck. She slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder, towards the Slytherine table. Draco Malfoy was staring a hole through her, his silver eyes burning.

Hermione kept eye contact for a second before walking away, knowing that he would follow her. Hermione headed straight for the lake, stopping under the tree. She turned around quickly, pointing her wand at Malfoy as he stopped in front of her.

"What do you want Malfoy?" She asked coolly, aiming her wand at his heart as she looked him in the eye.

"I want to talk to you," Draco said, pushing her right hand down.

"About what?" Hermione demanded, raising her wand hand again.

"Everything," Draco responded, pushing her hand down once again.

Hermione's hard look faltered as surprise threatened to take over. She didn't know what to do. Taking advantage of her shocked state, Draco took a step forward, enclosing his hand around her wrist, taking another step forward until he was pressed against her.

"Come on, Hermione…Try something different for a change," He whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her neck.

"Okay," Hermione whispered, stowing her wand in her robes.

* * *

><p>"Who was your first kiss?"<p>

"Greengrass."

"Daphne?"

"No, Astoria."

Hermione turned her head to look at Draco, burying the left side of her face in the grass. Draco turned to stare back at her, his cool eyes boring into hers.

They've been at this for hours, lying in the grass by the lake and asking simple questions about one another. They found themselves content, peaceful and each other's presence. Their cloaks, ties, and sweaters lay in a discarded pile off to the side as they lie on their backs in the long grass.

"Why?"

"I dunno…I figured that since I'm going to marry her, she might as well be my first kiss," Draco responded before turning his gaze back to the sky.

Hermione rolled over on her side so that she faced Draco, staring intently at his face. "Do you have to marry her?"

"If I want to stay a part of my family and inherit the family money, then yes."

"That's not fair," Hermione said.

"Well, my life isn't an easy one but it doesn't matter. I have certain expectations to live up to, just like this thing with the—"

Draco stopped talking abruptly, his face turning stony as he clamped his jaw shut.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Who was your first kiss?"

"Viktor Krum," Hermione answered immediately.

"How'd you like it?"

"What?" Hermione asked, caught off guard by his question.

"How'd you like kissing Krum?"

"It was…adequate," Hermione said with some difficulty.

"You didn't like it?" Malfoy asked with a smirk.

"No," Hermione said defensively, rolling over to lie down on her back once again, folding her arms across her chest.

Draco rolled over on his side, propping himself up on his elbow as he smirked at her with a knowing look. Hermione tried to ignore him, keeping her eyes on the darkening sky, her mouth set in a stubbornly straight line. Hermione glanced at Draco quickly; Draco wiggled his eyebrows in response. Before she could help herself, Hermione broke out into a fit of giggles. She covered her face with her hands as she continued to laugh, her face turning red.

"It was awful; it felt like he was trying to eat my face!" Hermione giggled, rolling over on her side to face Draco.

"Have you had any good kisses?"

"Well, one. Harry kissed me the other—"

Hermione stopped herself, clamping a hand over her mouth as her eyes opened wide. She hadn't meant to tell Draco that. She didn't want anyone besides Ginny knowing that she had snogged Harry Potter…Draco would tell everyone.

"You kissed Potter?" Malfoy asked, his voice low as his face changed drastically. His smile faded away and the light disappeared from his eyes. His face darkened, deep lines appearing, casting dark shadows on his handsome face…He looked scary.

"Yes," Hermione responded evenly, deciding that there was no point in denying it. She had already spilled the beans.

Draco visibly swallowed, looking like he was going to say something but decided against it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing his features. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when Draco visibly calmed down, feeling a weight lift off her chest.

"Are you telling me that you've only been kissed twice in your entire life?" Draco asked, smirking at her.

Hermione flushed with embarrassment. "I better be on my way now. I promised Ronald that I would help him write his essay for potions," Hermione said as she stood up.

"Granger, I was just joking"—Draco began.

"Oh, so it's Granger again?" Hermione asked coldly as she gathered her belongings and turned to leave.

"It was just a bloody joke! There's no need to act so melodramatic!" Draco said as he stood up.

"I don't even know what I was thinking, talking to you," Hermione said before walking away.

* * *

><p>"I'm much too thin."<p>

"Oh, shut up! I would kill for a figure like yours," Lavender said as she looked up from her magazine at Hermione.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked as she turned sideways to study her reflection. "I'm all bones, at least you have curves."

"I'm a cow," Lavender responded.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she turned to face the mirror, studying her chest. "I have no boobs," Hermione said weakly.

"What size are you?"

"36B."

"Oh...I'm sorry," Lavender said it as if a question mark should be at the end of her apology.

Hermione laughed. "We all can't have D cups like you Lavender."

"I'm actually a C cup," Lavender said as she sat up on her bed.

"I could swear you're a D," Hermione said, looking at Lavender's reflection in the mirror.

"I use that Muggle shop…Victoria's Secret. It does wonders," Lavender said with a smile.

"Really?" Hermione asked as she turned sideways again, placing a hand on her stomach as she studied her reflection.

"Why do you care so much about your figure?" Lavender asked as she walked over to Hermione.

"I don't know…I feel silly but I just can't help it," Hermione admitted, twisting her hair into a bun.

Hermione dropped her hair immediately when Parvati walked in the room. Parvati slammed the door loudly before stalking over to her bed and dropping her bag on the floor. Lavender glared at Parvati before turning to twist Hermione's hair in a bun, piling the brown curls on top of Hermione's head.

"Mione, you have a long, pretty neck. You should show it off by wearing your hair up in a bun and wearing a dazzling necklace or something," Lavender said as she played with Hermione's hair.

Parvati slammed her trunk shut before stalking away, slamming the door with such force that the door frame shook.

Hermione stared after Parvati in shock. She wasn't sure of exactly what happened between them but they stopped talking and Parvati began hanging out with Fay Dunbar and Lavender began hanging out with Hermione. Hermione didn't really want to get between their friendship but Lavender was making it impossible, refusing to talk about what happened between her and Parvati.

"Lavender, what exactly—?" Hermione stopped speaking, whipping her head to the side as a loud crash thundered from the common room.

Hermione and Lavender glanced at each other as the sound of cheering and things breaking continued. Hermione quickly grabbed her Prefect badge and pinned it to her night gown before grabbing her wand and hurrying to the common room.

"Okay, what's going on?" Hermione called as she hurried into the common room, stopping dead in her tracks as she saw exactly what was going on.

Hermione stared in shock as Harry and Ron struggled on the floor, fighting like Muggles. She winced as Ron punched Harry in the face, flinched as Harry kicked Ron in the stomach. Hermione shook her head, trying to clear it. She _was not_ seeing Harry and Ron beat each other brutally with their fist like wild animals. It just couldn't be. But, as she opened her eyes to witness the violent seen, she couldn't deny the truth of it all.

Hermione pointed her wand at the two of them, shouting, "_Impedimenta!_"

Harry was thrown off of Ron instantly, slamming down hard on the ground a few feet away.

All the cheering stopped immediately and everyone turned to stare at Hermione. Hermione raised an eyebrow at the crowd, surprised by the looks they were giving her…They were looking at her as if she is gross…Dirty.

"Go to your rooms," Hermione ordered, her voice authoritative. When no one moved, Hermione shouted, "NOW!"

Everyone quickly emptied the common room, hurrying up the stairs to their bedrooms. Hermione waited until the common room was empty to talk to Harry and Ron. Harry was sitting down in a chair by the fire, wiping blood from his nose and Ron was sitting on the couch, gingerly wiping blood away from his swollen lip. They both were glaring murderously at one another.

Hermione went to stand in front of them, her hands on her hips as "Well? What do you two have to say for yourselves?" Hermione demanded.

They both looked away from her, staring at spots on the floor. Ron was the first to speak up. "How could you kiss him Hermione?" Ron blurted out, staring at Hermione with wide eyes.

Hermione gaped at Ron, looking into his eyes. "I…It was a…How could you tell him that Harry?" Hermione demanded, finding it much easier to lash out on Harry than explain what happened to Ron.

"He needs to know Hermione so that he'll just stop," Harry said.

"Stop what?"

"Stop trying to steal you from me! I told him how _we're_ in love and he needs to back off! Then he had the nerve to tell me that_ you're_ in love with _him_! So I told him how we kissed," Harry said, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned back in his chair.

Hermione stared at Harry with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open. What is wrong with him? He has gone completely bonkers! Delusional! Mental!

"Tell me it's not true, Mione," Ron said quickly. "Tell him he's delusional."

Hermione swallowed thickly, dropping her arms in defeat so that they hung pathetically by her sides. How had she gotten into this?

"First of all, you do not own me Harry Potter. Secondly, I am not in love with you as much as you are not in love with me! I have no idea what has gotten into you lot but I am sick and tired of it! Thirdly," Hermione said, her voice softening as she looked into Ron's eyes, "we did kiss, Ronald…But that doesn't mean it meant anything or that you should have rubbed it in his face Harry!" Hermione finished, her voice becoming stern towards the end.

Harry stood up and walked over to Hermione, smiling smugly at Ron, apparently not have listened to anything Hermione said after she admitted kissing him. Harry wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder as he smiled broadly at Ron.

"See? I told you that we're in love," Harry said with a silly smile.

"Harry, let go," Hermione said quietly, trying to twist out of his hold but he wouldn't budge.

Ron glowered at Harry, his mouth twisting into a vicious snarl as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. Harry just smiled evilly before planting a kiss on Hermione's neck, causing her to squirm uncomfortably.

"Do you want to know what it felt like, mate? To have her body pressed against mine as our tongues exchanged names?" Harry asked teasingly.

"Harry—" Hermione began to protest but was cut off as Harry abruptly pushed her to the side, causing her to fall into the arm chair as Ron charged at Harry, tackling him to the ground.

Hermione scrambled up quickly, pointing her wand at Ron as she screamed, "_Impedimenta!_" for the second time that night.

Ron flew off Harry, slamming down on the ground a few feet away. Hermione shook her head angrily before storming to the stairs. She stopped on the first step, turning around to glare at them.

"What has gotten into you two! You're supposed to be friends! I don't know if you know that friends are not supposed to physically fight over a girl they both have no chance with! I'm disgusted by the pair of you! Fighting like animals! You both can kill each other for all I care! I give up!" Hermione screamed furiously before turning to stalk up the stairs to her dormitory.

Hermione found her path blocked on her dramatic dash up the stairs. She sighed before looking Ginny in the eye. "What do you want, Gin?"

"What's gone on between the two of them? They're the best of mates!" Ginny said quickly, impatiently.

"Because of…That thing that happened with Harry a week ago," Hermione muttered.

"You mean Ron found out that you snogged Harry?"

"Yes," Hermione sighed.

Hermione looked up when Ginny didn't reply instantly. Instead, Ginny was biting her lip…guiltily? Ginny was refusing to meet Hermione's gaze as she chewed on her lip, rubbing her right arm with her left hand as she looked around.

"Gin, what's wrong?" Hermione asked quietly, trying to peer into the girls eyes.

"Nothing, I'm just a bit tired. I'll be on my way to bed now," Ginny said before hurrying away.

Hermione watched as Ginny hurried away, confused. Her confusion suddenly melted away into annoyance. Why is everyone acting so weird?

"What the bloody hell is wrong with everyone?" Hermione shouted as she stormed into her bedroom, only to be bombarded by her roommates as they demanded to know what had happened to make Harry and Ron fight.

"Girl troubles," Hermione said curtly before climbing into bed.

Lavender and Parvati seemed to forget whatever argument they were in as they began talking animatedly about what girl could have possibly driven between Harry and Ron's friendship, deciding that she must be very pretty.

Hermione found that she couldn't care less about Parvati and Lavender making up and how Lavender would most likely stop hanging out with her. Good. She had enough of being a Girl.


	4. Dangerous Waters

**AN**: Sooooooo, it's been a very long time since I have updated but I've been really busy with school. Well, thank you CheshireCat23 for reviewing every chapter. I really look forward to reading your reviews on every chapter. I really hope you enjoy this chapter.

So…well, enjoy reading,

**Just One Drop**

_Chapter Four: Dangerous Waters_

"You've been avoiding me."

Hermione jumped in surprise, turning around to see Draco Malfoy sitting behind her, much to close for comfort.

Hermione turned around, acting like he wasn't making her uncomfortable. "What are you doing out here, Malfoy? This is _Gryffindor_ try outs," Hermione asked nastily, turning her attention back to the Quidditch pitch.

"I could never pass up a chance to see Weasel make a fool of himself," Malfoy said.

"Go away Malfoy. I do not feel like arguing with you at this very moment," Hermione said tiredly.

"We don't have to fight," Malfoy said hopefully.

Hermione turned around to glare at him. "What's with you, ferret?"

"I told you, I'm in love with you," Malfoy said earnestly.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand. "Please stop saying that," She whispered, closing her eyes tightly.

"Please stop denying me. Give me a chance, Granger."

"You don't deserve a chance Malfoy! What have you ever done to deserve a chance?" Hermione demanded.

"What if I do something nice?" Malfoy asked quickly, pulling out his wand.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked apprehensively, eyeing his wand.

Malfoy just smiled before pointing his wand towards the Quidditch pitch. Hermione turned just in time to see the Quaffle flying towards McLaggen. McLaggen was poised, ready to block the Quaffle from scoring.

"_Confundo_," Malfoy whispered, pointing his wand at McLaggen.

Hermione watched in shock as McLaggen went several feet in the wrong direction, looking confused.

"Draco!" Hermione scolded, turning around to lecture him.

"Oh, so it's Draco now?" Malfoy asked coolly, imitating Hermione from the last time they talked.

Hermione couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Draco. You have no idea what this means to Ronald," Hermione said earnestly.

"No, but I've got an idea about what this means to you," Malfoy whispered, running his thumb along Hermione's cheek bone.

Hermione looked into Malfoy's cool eyes, searching for some ulterior motive but couldn't find anything. He returned her gaze, looking intently in her eyes.

"I love you."

Hermione sighed. Not this again.

"Why would you love me?" Hermione asked, giving up the hope of telling him to stop with all the nonsense.

"Why not?"

"Don't answer my question with another question!" Hermione snapped irritably.

"You're so beautiful," Malfoy whispered.

Hermione grimaced awkwardly, standing up. "I'll see you some other time, Malfoy," She said before hurrying away.

Hermione quickly got off the stands and waited by the edge of the pitch for try outs to be over with. She watched as everyone landed in the grass. Harry said something to the whole group before everyone headed towards the changing rooms, everyone except for Harry, Ron, and McLaggen. Hermione waited until McLaggen walked away to approach Ron and Harry.

"Ron, you did brilliantly!" Hermione said before giving him a tight hug.

Ron smiled broadly, wrapping his arms tightly around Hermione's slim frame, burying his face in her hair. Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly, trying to pull away but Ron wouldn't budge.

"Um, Ronald…You can let go now," Hermione said quietly.

"Oh…Um, sorry," Ron said sheepishly, quickly letting her go.

"What about me?" Harry asked, opening his arms for a hug.

"You did brilliantly as always, Harry," Hermione said, moving to give Harry a hug.

Harry cupped Hermione's chin in his gloved hand before kissing her. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise at Harry's boldness before she quickly placed her hands on his chest and pushed. Harry stopped the kiss immediately, kissing her on the forehead instead before wrapping an arm around her waste.

Hermione glanced at Ron, whose ears were a dangerous shade of red as he glared murderously at Harry. Hermione gently extracted herself from Harry's hold.

"You two promised that you would play nice. I don't want any fighting," Hermione said sternly, looking from Harry to Ron.

"Why did you look at him first?" Ron demanded.

"What?" Hermione asked, giving Ron a questioning look.

"Why did you look at him first? You like him better than me!" Ron said accusingly, taking a step forward.

"That's not true, Ronald. I don't like either of you better than the other. You're both my friends," Hermione said, shooting a glance at Harry for help.

Harry took a step back, watching the scene with a glint of amusement in his eyes. It appeared as if he was going to sit back and let Ron make a fool of himself. He wasn't going to step in until Ron had completely screwed himself over.

"Then why do you kiss him and not me? If we're both equal then you should kiss me too," Ron said, taking another step forward.

"It doesn't work that way, Ronald," Hermione said, taking a step back.

Ron reached out and quickly grabbed Hermione's wrist, pulling her towards him. Hermione stumbled a bit as she crashed into his chest, trying to back away again but he grabbed her face.

Hermione stayed completely still as Ron brushed his lips against hers. She tried to turn her face away but Ron responded by tightening his grip and wrapping an arm around her waste, pulling her body against his.

"Kiss me, Hermione," He whispered against her lips.

Hermione shuddered, closing her eyes. "No, Ronald," She whispered.

Ron's hands changed from gentle to angry as he held her, pulling away enough so that she could see the anger twisting his features. Hermione went rigid, scared of the Ron was looking at her.

Ron was suddenly pulled away by an amused looking Harry. "Calm down mate, you can't expect her to snog every bloke on the face of the planet," Harry said, the logic in his statement horribly marred by his cocky tone.

"Now, lets pretend like none of this ever happened," Harry said, wrapping an arm around Hermione's waste as he headed back towards the castle. "Now, Hermione, you can go to the Great Hall and start lunch. We'll be there in a moment after we shower," Harry said, keeping his hold on her as she tried to turn away.

"Well, that is unless…you want to join me in the shower," Harry added, his voice low in her ear.

Hermione flushed in embarrassment, laughing besides her better judgment. "Harry!" She whined, playfully pushing him.

"Sorry, I can't help myself," Harry grinned, playfully rubbing the spot where she pushed him.

Hermione just giggled, looking away from him as they continued towards the castle. Ron suddenly stalked by her, roughly bumping into Harry as he walked away. Hermione froze, her grin slipping off of her face as she stared after Ron, feeling a pang of guilt.

"Don't worry about him," Harry said quietly.

Hermione turned to stare at Harry. "He's your best mate," She whispered.

"Yeah, and he wants you," Harry said, staring into her eyes.

"So?"

"I want you."

Hermione looked to the side, towards Ron's retreating form. "You know that's not going to happen," She responded softly, wrapping her arms around her middle.

"Why not?"

Hermione sighed, looking down at the grass. "I have to go," She said quietly before hurrying away.

"Hermione!" Harry called after her but she didn't turn around or slow her pace. She continued forward, hurrying into the safety of the castle.

Oo0oO

"Did you kiss him?" Ginny asked, her eyes bulging slightly.

"No," Hermione sighed. "I told him no and he got angry. Harry had to pull him away so he could calm down a bit."

"Do you like him?" Ginny asked quietly.

"More than I can say," Hermione admitted quietly, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"Than why didn't you kiss him?"

Hermione fell back on the couch, releasing a huff of air. "I dunno…I didn't want our first kiss to be like that. He basically said I should kiss him because I kissed Harry! That is no reason that we should kiss at all! We should kiss because we want to not because I should feel obligated to!"

"Why do I have the feeling that you've already planned out your whole life with Ron, right down to your first kiss?" Ginny asked, a small smile pulling at her lips.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I have not planned out my whole life with Ronald!" Hermione shouted indignantly. "Well…just our wedding," She admitted quietly.

"Then why won't you kiss him?"

"Because I want our first kiss to be spontaneous and full of passion," Hermione said quickly.

"Then why did you kiss Harry?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer but quickly snapped it shut again. Why did she kiss Harry if she wanted to be with Ron?

"Maybe I…maybe I," Hermione said quietly, looking down at her hands.

"Maybe you're not ready to tie yourself to one person just yet Hermione. Go out, explore a little. You should date other people; let Ron know that you're not always going to be there. And not just for that reason; do it for you. Have a little fun before you go off and magically forge yourself to my brother. There is nothing wrong with fooling around with a couple of guys or even girls before you take yourself off the market."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the last part of Ginny's little speech before standing up. "I have to do rounds tonight. See you later, Ginny," Hermione said as she put her cloak back on.

"Who with?" Ginny called.

"Malfoy," Hermione said, looking over her shoulder so Ginny can see the face she pulled.

Ginny smirked mischievously at Hermione. "Have fun," She said in a sing song voice.

Hermione rolled her eyes before hurrying out of the portrait hole.

Hermione was surprised to see Malfoy waiting for her in the entrance hall. Stopping dead in her tacks, she quickly straightened her school robes before tying her hair back in a messy bun to contain the wild monster that is her hair. A few locks of the shorter strands of her curly hair wouldn't fit in the bun so she just let them fall, framing her face with her hair.

She cleared her throat as she made her way down the short flight of stairs into the entrance hall, calling attention to her presence. Malfoy turned around to smile at her. It was the slightest upturn of the corner of his mouth but her heart still fluttered slightly at the sight.

"I'm surprised you came. I was told you haven't been doing your rounds lately."

"I had prior arrangements," Malfoy said shortly.

"More important than your prefect duties?" Hermione pressed, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes."

Hermione did not know how to respond to that. She wondered if Malfoy would tell her what his prior arrangements were but decided he wouldn't answer. Instead, she gestured for him to start walking before leading the way.

Half an hour later, Hermione and Malfoy were walking on the fifth floor and Malfoy had not spoken at all. It was really starting to irritate Hermione. How could he claim to be in love with her and than not talk to her when they are all alone?

"Are you okay, Granger?" Malfoy asked suddenly.

"Just peachy," She snapped, shooting him a nasty look before walking ahead of him.

"You can tell me if you want," Malfoy said, ignoring her attitude.

"I won't tell you anything Malfoy!" Hermione nearly shouted.

"No one said you had to," He replied calmly, unfazed by her sudden hostility.

"What is wrong with you?" Hermione demanded, whipping around to glare at him. "You're acting all…WEIRD!" She shouted, throwing her arms in the air.

"I dunno Granger…One day after breakfast, I looked at you while you were talking to Weasley and you just…You are so beautiful. It took me forever to notice that and even longer to realize your teeth are fixed. I kind of miss your old teeth but I do like your new ones too!" He added quickly when she gave him a weird look.

"Anyways, all I have to say is that you're on my mind all the time. I can't stop thinking about you. I think about you all day, dream about you all night. It's driving me mad! And I love it when you look at me, even if you think I'm mental. Just to know that your chocolate brown eyes are focused on me makes me want to jump for joy. I would do anything for you, Hermione," He finished, reaching out to cup her cheek in his hand.

Hermione jumped back quickly, looking quite frightened. Malfoy cursed under his breath as he took his hand back.

"Hermione, I know this all sounds mad but I do love you. I want you, all for myself. I don't care about anything else. I just want you. And I know this is sudden but can I have a kiss? One kiss and I will leave you alone, I swear," He said quickly, looking quite sick.

"Are you mental? No!" Hermione exclaimed loudly before quickly walking away.

"Hermione, I'm sorry! That was idiotic of me, please forgive me," Malfoy said quickly, moving to grab her arm.

"Don't touch me Malfoy!" Hermione shouted, pulling her arm free before running away, back to Gryffindor Tower.

Malfoy didn't follow her, and for that she is grateful. She let out a shaky breath as she stepped through the portrait hole.

She plopped down in the arm chair be the fire, staring at the dying embers as she tried to catch her breath.

"Are you okay, Hermione?"

Hermione jumped, whipping her head to the side so fast her neck cracked.

"Ouch, damn," She muttered, massaging her neck gently as looked at Ron. "What do you want, Ronald?"

"I wanted to apologize for earlier," Ron said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"If you really wanted to apologize, you would massage my neck," Hermione said, moving over to the couch as she offered Ron her neck.

Ron nodded before quickly moving over to the couch to sit behind her. He cleared his throat awkwardly before beginning to massage her neck.

Hermione sighed, relaxing her muscles as Ron began to gently massage away the pain. Ron continued to awkwardly massage her neck, not sure what he was doing. Hermione made another contented sigh, leaning into Ron a bit more. Encouraged by her visible enjoyment, Ron began to firmly massage her neck.

"Hermione, I am really sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have approached you in that way it's just…I get really jealous sometimes and Harry knows how much I like you and he still kissed you. I dunno…I guess I just felt betrayed and jealous…Just the thought of you kissing someone else drove me mad," Ron rambled as he continued to massage her neck.

"Hmm?" Hermione hummed, having not really heard anything he just said.

"You're too damn beautiful for your own good," Ron whispered, moving his hands to massage her shoulders as she leaned into his chest.

Hermione just nodded her head lazily as her head lolled to the side, exposing the smooth flesh of her neck for Ron to see.

Ron swallowed nervously as his eyes roamed over the cream colored skin adorning her neck. Her skin looked so soft, so smooth. If only he could reach out and touch her…just to feel her smooth skin against his rough hands. He studied the smooth skin and the delicate way it moved over her collar bone…If only could kiss her neck…if only he could know what her skin would taste like…

Ron let out a shaky breath as his hands moved down her back and his arms encircled her waste as he pulled her flush against his chest. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise as she felt Ron's chest against her back and his lips on her neck.

"Ron…what are you doing?" Hermione asked quietly as he continued to suck on her neck.

"Sush," Ron whispered against her neck as his hands moved upward to cup her breast firmly.

"Ron!" Hermione protested, moving away quickly.

Ron grabbed her quickly, pulling her by her arms so that their lips met. His lips were rough and urgent, attempting to coax her into kissing him in return. Hermione did not want to kiss Ron at all, so she pressed her hands against his chest and pushed his body away with as much force as possible.

Hermione quickly tried to stand up and Ron pulled her by her wrist back into his lap to kiss her again.

"Ronald!" Hermione protested loudly, pulling away to slap him hard across the face.

She quickly scrambled off of the couch, shooting up to run to her dormitory but Ron quickly snatched her up again, pushing her down on the couch with a growl before claiming her lips in an aggressive kiss as he lay on top of her.

She wiggled against him, trying to free herself but he was too heavy. His hands were everywhere, he was everywhere. She could feel his calloused hands, rubbing her sides roughly, cupping her face as she tried to fight him off without much luck.

"Stop moving, Hermione," Ron grunted, pinning her hands above her head as he forced his way between her legs.

"Get _off_!" Hermione screamed, taking the opportunity to bring her knee up to crash into his groin forcefully.

Ron made a noise akin to a shot coyote before toppling to the ground. Hermione shot up quickly, jumping over the couch to run up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. She could hear Ron calling after her; hear him running to catch up with her.

She screamed loudly when he began to chase after her and just made it to the landing before Ron tried to run up the stairs, falling down the slide as the stairs transformed.

Hermione doubled over at the waist, her hands on her hips as she caught her breath and silently thanked the founders of Hogwarts for enchanting the stairs. It was then that the full weight of what had just occurred crashed down on her. Hermione let out a shaky breath as she tried to control the sudden flow of tears.


	5. When Girls Have Fun

**AN: **First of all, thank you for all of the wonderful reviews. It is nice to know someone else is reading my story. I would personally like to say thank you to Woemcat for pointing out that little mistake in the first chapter. It has been fixed. I guess I'll have to triple check my stories now before posting them. Well, read and enjoy.

**Just One Drop**

_Chapter Five: When Girls have Fun_

"Oh, Ginny, you didn't see the look in his eyes! Why would he do that to me?" Hermione cried as she hunched over, dropping her head in Ginny's lap as she continued to cry freely.

Ginny gently stroked Hermione's unruly hair with a guilty expression on her face. She hadn't expected Ron to go that far…She didn't expect anything bad would happen from slipping him a love potion. She had to fix this.

"Hermione," Ginny said sternly, grabbing Hermione's face so that she can look her distressed friend in the eye.

Hermione sniffled, pushing her hair away from her eyes as her lip quivered. The look broke Ginny's heart.

"Ron would never hurt you…if he were in the right state of mind."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked quietly.

"I…I took a flask of your love potion and slipped it to Ron and Malfoy…Harry is under the influence of your love potion too because he drank some of Ron's pumpkin juice after I had laced Ron's juice. I am sorry Hermione; I had no idea it would go this far," Ginny added quickly.

Hermione just stared at Ginny with a dumb founded expression, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open as she tried to process everything her friend had just told her. Then she smiled a big goofy grin, lightly smacking herself on the forehead as she began to laugh.

"Oh, of course they had to be under the influence of a love potion! Oh, it all makes sense now! And I thought Malfoy had gone completely mad along with Harry and Ron! Oh, I feel so _stupid_!" Hermione exclaimed before bursting into laughter.

Looking slightly shocked, Ginny stood up and walked to the other side of the room. Once Hermione got over the fact that every male she knew was not mad, she would explode just like a ticking time bomb. Ginny braced herself, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

Hermione suddenly stopped laughing, looking at Ginny with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Ginerva!" She exclaimed, shooting up.

"How _could_ you? You know just how dangerous a love potion is! There is a reason love potions are against the rules, Ginny! How could you be so irresponsible? I thought Ron tried to _rape_ me!" Hermione fumed.

Ginny looked at Hermione with the most guilty expression she could muster. "I didn't think things would go this far…I just thought it would be fun," Ginny added quietly, quite loss for words.

"Do you see what happens when girls try to have fun?" Hermione demanded as she walked towards the door. "I have to fix this," She said before leaving.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Hermione to brew a cure for her love potion. She now has three flasks, filled to the brim with the clear liquid. The only problem is getting the infected boys to drink the cure.<p>

She wracked her brain, thinking of ways to get them to blindly drink the brew. It shouldn't be that hard, seeing as they think they are in love with her.

Sighing, Hermione stowed the flasks in her robes before lying on her bed. Shortly after she had lied down, Crookshanks hopped on the bed next to her, curling against her stomach. Hermione ran her fingers through Crookshanks long fur as he stretched out along the mattress.

"What should I do Crookshanks? Hm? What would you do?" Hermione murmured as she gently stroked Crookshanks.

Crookshanks looked at Hermione, his orange eyes glowing with all the things she wished he could say.

"I guess I could always use my charm," Hermione cooed, scratching Crookshanks behind the ear affectionately.

* * *

><p>"Harry," Hermione whispered quietly as McGonagall attempted to fix Lavender's nose, witch Ron had accidentally transfigured to an elephant trunk.<p>

"Yes Hermione?" Harry asked quickly.

"Do you want to walk me to my Arithmacy class? I have a question I would like to ask you," Hermione said quietly, letting her voice drop to a seductive whisper, "you know…in private."

"Yeah—I mean, sure. We can talk about anything you want, anything at all in…private."

"Thank you Harry," Hermione said, flashing him a bright smile before continuing to practice her spell work.

By the end of class, McGonagall had finally fixed Lavender's nose so that it was back to normal. Ron stayed a bit longer for a lecture on proper wand use. By the end of his lecture, Harry and Hermione were no where to be seen.

Hermione had taken Harry by the hand and led him to a deserted corridor. She dropped his hand and leaned against the stone wall, attempting to give Harry the best 'goofy-I'm-a-girl-in-love' smile. She was pretty sure that she just looked stupid but that apparently did not matter to Harry, seeing as he was smiling the same way back.

"Harry…I tried to make a new potion so that I can earn extra credit in Slughorn's class. It is really simple, just a potion that eliminates bad breath odor," Hermione said in a low voice, extracting a flask from her pocket to show Harry the clear liquid. "It is supposed to make your breath smell like spearmint and I think I've got it right. Can you try it for me?" She asked innocently, widening her eyes for extra effect.

"Um…Sure. Afterwards, you can explore my mouth to see if it works properly," Harry smirked as he pulled out the stopper.

"Whatever you like," Hermione said in the best alluring voice she could muster feeling quite ridiculous but Harry was practically drooling, his eyes clouded with desire.

Harry brought the flask to his parted lips and swallowed some. Hermione quickly tilted the flask again when Harry attempted to lower it, forcing him to drink all of the potion. When Harry lowered the flask, he smiled at Hermione before placing his hand flat against the wall next to her head and leaned in so that their faces were really close.

"Now, how about that—?"

Harry stopped mid question, his eyes widening as the influence of the love potion escaped his system. He then looked down at Hermione, noticing just how close they were. He quickly jumped back, far away from Hermione looking quite frightened.

Hermione just smirked, enjoying his reaction. She bit back a snicker when Harry looked at his hands, his eyes going impossibly wide before shoving them in his pockets as if his hands had offended him.

"Hermione…um…What _happened_?" Harry asked in a quiet voice, as if he were afraid someone would over hear their conversation.

"Well, Ginny had convinced me to make a love potion and happened to nick some while my back was turned and gave it to you and Ron," Hermione said promptly. "And I need your help to get Ron to drink the antidote."

Harry's eyes widened again as he took in everything Hermione had just said. "Well, I guess that makes sense—not that I wouldn't be in to you if—I mean, you're a great girl but—"

"Harry, calm down. I understand. You're like my brother and I should not have let you kiss me that night but I had no idea Ginny had taken the love potion and I should have known something was wrong when you and Ron suddenly were expressing feelings for me."

Harry just smiled at Hermione. "You're great Hermione. Any guy in the world would be lucky to have you. I apologize for being such a git. I must have really ticked Ron off," Harry said, smiling sheepishly.

"You were out of character, it is completely understandable. Speaking of Ronald, I need you to slip him this," Hermione said, reaching into her robes to give Harry a flask containing the antidote.

"Why can't you give it to Ron?" Harry asked as he took the flask from Hermione.

She quickly averted her eyes, staring at her shoes.

"Hermione?"

Was their always a scratch on her left shoe? That wouldn't do…She would have to buff that out later. What type of prefect walks around with a scratch on their left shoe? Certainly not a prefect that would become Head Girl. What if Dumbledore noticed that scratch? All of her prospects would be ruined.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, grabbing her chin to lift her head up so that he could look into her eyes. "Did Ron do something stupid?"

Hermione sighed, looking down again but she was unable to examine the scratch on her shoe because Harry's hand was in the way. She sighed once again, giving up.

"It was nothing really…Ronald just tried to force himself on me," Hermione said quietly, her eyes beginning to burn as she recalled the memory.

"Hermione," Harry said gently before pulling her into a hug. Hermione returned the hug immediately, wrapping her arms around Harry as she buried her face in his chest.

He just held her for a few moments until he was sure that she was fine.

"Hermione, you know Ron would never hurt you. He loves you. We both do," Harry said when she pulled away.

"I know Harry, but I cannot be around him at this moment while he is being so…mad. Can you please get him to drink the antidote? Then you can explain what happened and that I am not mad at him?"

"Of course, Herms," Harry said, nodding.

"Okay, thanks a million! I have to go to class! Bye!" Hermione called over her shoulder as she hurried away.

Harry watched her go, quite not understanding the slight increase in his heart beat as she looked over her shoulder to smile at him before rounding a corner. He didn't understand the sudden sadness he felt when she left. Frowning to himself, Harry looked down at the flask in his hands, wondering just how strong that love potion was.

* * *

><p>Hermione suppressed a smile as she looked down at her potions essay for Slughorn. She only had three more inches to go and needed to concentrate. Get it together, Hermione, she chastened herself internally before looking up to find him smiling at her.<p>

Hermione giggled, dropping her head on the desk only to peek up at him again. Malfoy just smirked in return before turning his attention back to whatever he was working on. Hermione sighed, pulling out the flask containing the antidote. Maybe she should give it to Malfoy now…?

"I did it."

Hermione jumped in surprise, looking over at her intruder.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, placing her hand over her chest where her heart hammered frantically. "You gave me a fright!"

"Sorry," Harry said as he sat down on the table, his eyes lingering on the hand resting over her breast for a second too long. Harry smiled at her. "I gave Ron the antidote and explained everything to him."

"How is he taking it?"

"He feels really bad and I don't think he wants to see you any time soon. He can't believe how crazy he was acting."

"Why do you think the potion affected him so strongly? You didn't act nearly as mad as he did."

"Well, Ron has always had a crush on you so maybe the potion just made his feelings progress from school-girl crush to obsessive-stalker infatuation."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry's logic. "Whatever," She said dismissively, standing up, "let's go back to Gryffindor tower, I want to talk to Ron."

Harry was staring at Hermione with a weird expression, looking slightly dazed but awed at the same time. Hermione gently prodded his shoulder.

"Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Let's go," Hermione said, gesturing towards the exit.

"Oh...erm, yeah. After you," Harry said, gesturing for her to lead the way.

Hermione gave Harry a weird look before gathering her belongings and walking ahead of him. Harry looked over his shoulder having felt someone's eyes on them. He returned Malfoy's glare before following Hermione.

The walk back to Gryffindor tower was silent but Hermione didn't mind. She just wanted to talk to Ron. By the time they had reached the common room, Ron was no where to be seen. Hermione hurried up the stairs to his room. When she had walked in, Ron was changing into his Quidditch robes.

"Blimey!" Ron shouted, quickly throwing his shirt on as he attempted to cover himself.

"Ron, I wanted to talk to you," Hermione said.

"We can talk later Hermione. I have practice," Ron said shortly, trying to walk around her.

Hermione quickly blocked his way. "Can we at least talk about this?"

Ron huffed, rolling his eyes. "Okay, go ahead and apologize."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?"

"You can apologize for drugging me with your bloody love potion"

"I didn't _drug_ you—"

"Well, you might as well have. You're a prefect, Hermione and the smartest witch of our age. It doesn't take a bloody genius to figure out that making an illegal love potion at school isn't a wise decision. None of this would have happened if you would use your brain for more than school work."

Hermione gaped at him. He just shrugged and walked around her, calling over his shoulder, "It's okay Hermione, I forgive you."

* * *

><p>Hermione closed her eyes lightly, listening to the soft chirp of the birds that surrounded her head…The birds she managed to conjure silently, without having to utter a spell. Professor McGonagall would be proud…She was always proud of Hermione's skill.<p>

Hermione closed her eyes tighter; trying to focus on the gentle chirps of her little yellow birds…She needed the distraction, needed something to help her forget the throb she felt in her chest, the pain so near her heart…But she couldn't. The sound of the birds was not loud enough to block out her thoughts and emotions.

She was so tired of emotions; of dealing with being human…Ron had gone too far this time. She doesn't know what she did or why Ron is upset with her…If only things could go back to normal. With a heavy sigh, Hermione began to reflect on the events that had recently occurred…

After the deal with the live potion, Ron decided to act as if nothing had occurred. Hermione was perfectly fine with that. She played along, never mentioning the love potion and acting as if nothing had happened…Things went a little out of the ordinary when she invited Ron to go to Slughorn's Christmas party with her and he agreed…They were going as friends, of course, but the fact that he was going as her date made her all giddy and excited.

Life was normal, besides the fact that Harry was now beating her at potions because of the 'Half-blood Prince.' Harry was getting help from a stupid book and Slughorn now overlooked her in class, gaining more joy by seeing what Harry had brewed no matter how hard she tried. Hermione decided to cope though, knowing that she was still the best and Harry was only cheating even if he won the Felix Felicis…

Harry had also started his training with Dumbledore and it was not what Hermione had expected. Instead of learning new defensive spells, Dumbledore was showing Harry memories dealing with Voldemort before his rise to power. Hermione would always help Harry understand the memories and get a deeper insight into the mind of Voldemort without having to evade his head.

Everything was well, until one day when Harry and Ron had returned from practice. Ron had been especially nasty to Hermione and she just didn't understand. So Hermione decided to brush it off, thinking Ron was probably upset because he was not performing so well at practice. She assumed that his little mean steak would be over by the next day but it wasn't. Ron continued to be nasty to her, even on the day of the first match.

Hermione had saw Harry spike Ron's juice with the Felix Felicis potion and tried to tell Ron not to drink it but he would not listen. Ron drank the spiked drink even though it is against school rules to drink liquid luck before a game.

Hermione was torn, not knowing what to do. She thought about turning them in, telling Professor McGonagall because it is the right thing to do. But then she remembered what happened in third year, when she had told McGonagall about the Firebolt Harry and Ron had stopped talking to her completely until Harry got his Firebolt back. That had been a terrible time for Hermione and she did not want a repeat. So, she sucked it up and cheered halfheartedly as Ron blocked each attempted goal by the Slytherine chasers.

Gryffindor had won, naturally. After the match, Hermione went to scold Harry for lacing Ron's drink only to find out that he didn't really lace his drink and it was all in Ron's head. Ron than taunted her for not believing him before going to attend the party.

Not knowing what to do, Hermione had walked around the grounds slowly before going to the party. She had decided to apologize to Ron for whatever she had done even if she did not know. She just wanted to patch things up. When she had walked into the common room, she came face to face with a sight she did not want to see.

Ron was snogging Lavender Brown quite fiercely, hands threaded in her hair as he showered her with kisses. Hermione had simply stared, frozen in place as she felt her heart crumble and turn to dust…It felt as if someone had reached inside her and grabbed her heart, squeezing the thumping organ until all of the fight was dripped out of it…Leaving her broken. She wanted to leave, she wanted to run away and lock herself inside a dark room and be alone but she was frozen.

'_Come on feet. Move_,' she had to silently command herself. And then she turned and left, hurrying away to the nearest empty classroom she could find.

And that is how she ended up here, practicing her spells. The birds continued to dance around her head as she tried to erase her emotions.

The door opened and Hermione turned to see Harry standing in the doorway. His eyes were on her, shining in the dim classroom. He looked…sad—no. The look in his eyes screamed 'pity'. He felt pity for her and Hermione could not stand it…The pity. She didn't want or need his pity.

"Oh, hello, Harry. I was just practicing," Hermione said in a voice she hoped was strong enough…a voice she hoped that did not give away her pain.

"Yeah…they're—er—really good…" Harry trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Hermione tried to focus on her birds again but she couldn't. Her eyes were beginning to burn and she could feel the pressure building up in her nose. She let out a gust of air, trying to hold the tears back but they were coming.

She stole a glance at Harry who looked confused, as if he didn't know what to say. She decided to throw him a bone.

"Ron seems to be enjoying the celebrations." Her voice came out unnaturally high-pitched as she tried to hold back the tears.

"Er…does he?" Harry asked, feigning ignorance.

Hermione wanted to hug him but she felt that if she moved that she would burst. Dear Harry, always trying to protect her.

"Don't pretend you didn't see him," Hermione said, her words laced with pain. "He wasn't exactly hiding it, was—?"

The classroom door busted open and Ron came in, his face in a gleeful laugh as he pulled Lavender behind him by the hand. Hermione felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. Was it not enough that he had kissed her in public? Did he have to rub it in her face?

She was livid. Her face twisted into a look of fury before she quickly smoothed out her features before Ron noticed the loojk.

"Oh," Ron said, looking slightly shocked at seeing them.

"_Oh. _Oh_._ _That is all he had to say._ _Oh? That_ idiot," Hermione internally seethed.

"Oops!" Lavender giggled before exiting the room.

A very thick and pregnant silence followed her exit as Hermione stared at Ron. Ron refused to meet her gaze like the coward he is. How did he even get placed in Gryffindor?

"Hi, Harry!" Ron said awkwardly, trying to sound brave. It didn't suit him well. "Wondered where you'd got to!"

Harry didn't respond. He gave Ron a heated glare before turning to look at Hermione. She slid off of the desk and walked towards the door, keeping her pace slow and her movements stiff. She didn't want to break down in front of him; she didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

The birds followed her as she walked, continuously circling her head. "You shouldn't leave Lavender waiting outside. She'll wonder where you've gone," Hermione said quietly as she walked past Ron, towards the door.

She heard a quiet sigh of relief behind her as she slowly walked away and anger surged through her veins, causing her blood to boil. _'So he thought he'd get away that easy?_' Hermione thought bitterly as a sudden idea struck her.

Hermione quickly whipped around, brandishing her wand as she shrieked, "_Oppugno!_"

Ron let out a startled yell as her birds attacked, covering his face with his arms. Hermione smiled as her birds shrieked, digging their talons and beaks into his flesh. Ron screamed and Hermione's smile just widened before she wrenched the door open.

She let out one breathy sob before closing the door. She couldn't help it but she did not allow any tears. She would not cry over Ron Weasley again. Hermione pushed past Lavender and let her feet carry her.

Soon enough, she was going up the stairs to the seventh floor. Next thing Hermione knew, she was walking along the tapestry across from the hidden entrance to the Room of Requirements, facing Draco Malfoy.

He looked happy and surprised to see her. Hermione recalled that she still had not given him the antidote to her love potion but she was just fine with that. A Draco Malfoy under the influence of a love potion she made is exactly what she needs.

"Where were you today? You were not at the game. You would never pass up a chance to beat Harry," Hermione said quietly.

Malfoy opened his mouth to speak and then snapped it shut again.

"Never mind that," Hermione said quickly, taking another step closer. "Do you still want that kiss?"

Malfoy's eyes widened in surprise before he quickly nodded his head. "Yeah—erm—sure," He stuttered.

Hermione smiled at him as she took another step closer, letting her eyes flutter closed. He was quick, his hands gently cupping her face. She felt his lips gently brush hers, his warm breath ghost over her face. She reached up and placed her hand over his, her lips turning up in a smile before leaning forward to press their lips together.

His lips were gentle, softly moving against hers. That is, until she sighed into his mouth, her lips parting as her warm air filled him. Malfoy's hands quickly slipped down her sides to wrap around her waste as he pressed himself against her. Hermione pulled away, tugging his bottom lip between her teeth teasingly.

"Blimey, Hermione," Malfoy groaned before hurriedly pushing her against the wall as he pressed himself against her, his tongue evading her mouth as she threaded her fingers in his silky locks.


	6. Honesty is the Best Policy

**AN: **I am sorry for the wait but I hit a brick wall with this chapter. It took me forever, but I managed to knock the wall down and finish the chapter all in one day so excuse the mistakes please. Also, **echizenochi** asked a question about the time and setting and what not and I guess I should make it known that this is happening during sixth year, as in everything in the book is occurring just with Dramione. I may leave out some things and change stuff here and there but it pretty much follows the events of the sixth book. Again, I apologize and enjoy:)

**Just One Drop**

_Chapter Six: Honesty is the Best Policy_

"Hermione."

"Hm?" Hermione asked, looking up at Harry as she walked down the stairs.

"I stayed up so that I could talk to you before you went to bed last night but you never came," Harry said, looking at Hermione with concern. "Are you alright?"

Hermione did not like the look Harry was giving her…It was as if he was examining her face for traces of tears and puffy red eyes. Suddenly irritated, Hermione turned her back on him as she walked towards the exit.

"I'm fine Harry."

Harry quickly grabbed her wrist and turned her around.

"They're dating."

Hermione clicked her tongue impatiently, snatching her arm free. "I don't care who Ron dates and what he does with the idiot that decides to date him. It is none of my business as far as I am concerned and I believe Ronald feels the same. I am upset that Ron decided to kiss Lavender after agreeing to be my date to Slughorn's Christmas party but my heart is not broken, Harry. As of this moment, I am quite ticked off with him at this moment and do not want to speak with him and it is none of your business Harry. In other words, _stay out of it_," Hermione said quickly and promptly.

"I just want to be sure that you're okay," Harry said quickly, his green eyes shining with concern.

"I am okay, Harry. Stop worrying about me," Hermione said with a wide smile. "Now, I have to meet up with someone before breakfast," She said, glancing at her wrist watch.

"Okay," Harry said as he watched her walk away. "Wait! Who are you meeting up with?" Harry called after her but she was gone.

"Damn it," Harry cursed under his breath as the scent of Hermione's recently washed hair danced around his nostrils.

* * *

><p>"Draco!" Hermione scolded halfheartedly, giggling as she smacked his eager hands away.<p>

"I am just making sure that you're securely standing on the stepladder. I wouldn't want you to fall and hurt the pretty little face," Draco said with a wide smile as he trailed his hand up Hermione's smooth legs, attempting to slip his hand under her skirt.

"Draco!" Hermione scolded again, smacking his hand away.

"Hermione!" Draco pouted, grasping her hips in his hands before yanking her off of the step stool so that she was standing in front of him with her back still facing his front.

Draco wrapped his arms around her waist, nipping at her neck playfully. "Come on, Hermione."

Hermione turned around in his arms to smile brightly at him, grasping his tie with one hand before disappearing behind the large Christmas tree they are supposed to be decorating, pulling Draco along with her. Draco pressed his lips against hers in an urgent kiss as they hid between the rough branches of the Christmas tree.

* * *

><p>"You've been very busy lately."<p>

Hermione jumped in surprise, looking up to see Ginny staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Hermione just grimaced in response before continuing the potions essay in front of her.

Ginny sat down next to Hermione and read the title of her essay. "I thought you already finished that essay for Slughorn," She said lightly.

Hermione froze, keeping her eyes on the essay in front of her. Damn Ginny and the way she pays close attention!

"I…I did not like the other essay so I am writing a new one," Hermione said slowly before she continued scribbling away.

Ginny tipped her head to the side in deep thinking. "I swear on Merlin that you bragged non stop for ten minutes on your perfect essay—"

"Ginny, just forget it! I changed my mind! This essay will be even better," Hermione said a bit harshly, cutting right across Ginny.

The truth is Draco confessed to Hermione that he hasn't been able to focus on his school work lately because of life and how deeply in love with her he is. Feeling guilty, Hermione decided to do his homework for him. He's been miraculously disappearing lately and Hermione decided that it must be the love potion even though Harry believes he is gone for other reasons.

"I can tell that you're lying Hermione and I know you haven't been spending all of your time in the library as you said," Ginny said giving her a look that Hermione took as 'you better tell me.'

"Ginny," Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples. "I can't tell you," She said with some difficulty.

Hermione refused to look at Ginny as she worked diligently on Draco's essay, shoulders rigid and tense.

Ginny stared at Hermione for a long time before standing up and leaving. Once she was gone Hermione let out a deep sigh of relief as her body relaxed. She didn't want to lie to Ginny but she didn't want to tell her the truth. What could she say? 'Ginny, do you remember how you spiked Draco's drink with love potion? Well, I was really hurt when Ron kissed Lavender at the party so I have been taking advantage of Draco to mend my broken heart.'

Yeah, that what work out brilliantly. Ginny would completely understand. On the other hand, her mum has always said, "Honesty is the best policy!" in a cheerful voice whenever she asked her about what she should do in similar situations.

Hermione shook her head before continuing Draco's essay. Ginny should just mind her own business and Hermione should…Tell Draco the truth?

She quickly thought back to the first time Draco had called her a 'filthy little Mudblood,' recalling the venom in his voice and the hate in his steal eyes. She shuddered, banishing the thought from her mind, replacing it with a memory from earlier that week when Draco had kissed her so passionately between the branches of the Christmas tree, deciding that she shouldn't tell Draco the truth just yet.

* * *

><p>Hermione promptly ignored Ron as Slughorn passed back their potions essays. He was complaining to Harry about the low score he had received. Hermione could not help but smile as she looked down at her perfect score, placing her essay where Ron could see. At least she's a lot smarter than Lavender who did not even do well enough on her O. to be placed in Advanced Potions.<p>

She glanced over her shoulder at Draco's surprised face as Slughorn complemented him on the essay she had written. She decided not to tell Draco that she wrote his essay for him because, love potion or not, he is still Draco Malfoy and Draco Malfoy has too much pride to have someone write an essay for him.

Draco looked down at the essay, quickly reading it before looking up at Hermione. He gave her a small smile, mouthing a quiet 'thank you.'

Hermione turned around and smiled brightly at the table as Slughorn dismissed the class. She saw Ron watching her out of the corner of her eye. He quietly whispered something to Harry and Harry glanced at Hermione, shrugging in response.

Hermione quickly stowed her essay in her bag, still smiling broadly as she shouldered her book bag. As she walked, she felt the close presence of Draco behind her as she walked.

"You are brilliant," Draco whispered in her ear as they walked. "Meet me on the seventh floor after lunch."

He pinched her hip bone before quickly walking away. Hermione looked after him, blushing and chewing on her lip…but it all felt so wrong.

Ron and Harry walked by and she glanced at them. Ron did not look happy to see her blush and she just smiled smugly at that before briskly walking away.

* * *

><p>Hermione sat on her bed, legs folded Indian style as she gnawed on her bottom lip with her head in her hands. The guilt was eating her alive. She couldn't stop thinking about Voldemort's mother and how she had fed Riddle Senior love potion until finally telling him the truth…and then he left her even though she was pregnant with their child.<p>

Would she end up like her…heart broken and alone with a child? Then she would die of that broken heart and leave her child alone in the world and then her child will turn out just like Voldemort! Only he would hate purebloods since it would be the pureblood father that abandoned him…And then her poor soon will try to eradicate all pureblooded wizards and witches!

Hermione smacked herself aside the head, trying to calm her nerves. She's over analyzing this. Tomorrow is the last day before holiday and Slughorn's Christmas party.

Groaning, Hermione fished her potions book out of her bag and quickly made an antidote to the love potion. She stowed the flask in her robes before hurrying out to meet Draco on the seventh floor, preparing herself for the lashing and hurtful words Draco will most likely give.

Draco was waiting for her when she appeared. He turned around and gave her a bright smile that she did not return.

"Hermione—" Draco began but she held up a hand to silence him.

"Please drink this and try not to be angry," Hermione said as she handed him the flask.

"Why would I be angry with you? You're perfect, beautiful, smart—"

"Draco please stop and just drink," Hermione pleaded, closing her eyes and turning away.

Draco gave her a perplexed look before drinking the antidote. Hermione braced herself as she looked up at his face.

He looked confused as he stared at the vial in his hand, thinking fast. And then he gasped and looked at Hermione, unable to form words as he began to splutter at her.

Hermione could feel tears burning in her eyes already as she looked at Draco.

"Y-You drugged me! You made me think I was in love with you! Ugh!" Draco shouted in disgust, his face twisting into a nasty grimace. "I even kissed you! Granger, you are the most desperate, horny, disgusting Mudblood I have ever—"

"D-Draco, I didn't drug you! You have to believe me!" Hermione shouted desperately as she began to cry.

"Believe you? Why would I believe you? You're nothing but a desperate Mudblood attempting to get her filthy Mudblood hands on a pureblood!" Draco said in disgust as he began to walk away.

"Draco!" Hermione called desperately after him as her throat burned with her anguish.

He stiffened visibly before whirling around to face her, his face twisted in an ugly mask of anger. He marched up to her and grasped her throat in his hand, pressing her against the stone wall.

She grasped, frightened though he didn't apply any pressure to the hand on her neck. He leaned in so that his face, marred by anger, was close enough that all she could see is his angry face.

"I do not want to hear my name from that disgusting mouth of yours ever again, Mudblood. Tell anyone about what you did to me and I will ruin you, filth," Draco growled angrily before releasing her.

Hermione placed a clammy hand on her neck as she watched him walk away, shaking horribly as she slid down the wall to sit on the ground before her shaking legs could fail her. Hermione tried to take a calming breath but a broken sob ripped from her throat and she began to sob uncontrollably, still holding her neck as she cried freely.

* * *

><p>Pretending that everything is normal turned out to be a lot easier than Hermione could ever have imagined. When she was done crying, she went to the bathroom in an attempt to fix her face so that no one would notice she had been crying.<p>

While in the loo, Hermione overheard a group of girls talking about slipping Harry a love potion. She noticed Romilda Vane among the group of girls. She told herself to tell Harry to be careful next time she sees him before going to the library, her place of comfort.

The library hugged her when she walked in, removing all of her pain…at least for the time being. She sat down to finish the essay she was writing for Draco even though he had reacted so rudely after taking the antidote. Hermione could not leave an assignment undone.

Harry joined her in the library shorty after she had finished Draco's essay and began to finish her essay for Arithmacy. She found it easier to complain about Ron to him than show how Draco's reaction had affected her. Then Hermione remembered the love potions and the girls in the loo. She told Harry about the love potions and Ronilda Vane.

"Why didn't you confiscate them then?" Harry demanded angrily.

"They didn't have the potions with them in the loo. They were just discussing tactics. As I doubt whether even the Half-Blood Prince"—she shot the book a nasty look as it rested so innocently on the table across from her—"could dream up an antidote for a dozen different love potions at once, I'd just invite someone to go with you, that'll stop all the others thinking they've still got a chance. It's tomorrow night, they're getting desperate."

Harry gave Hermione a look but it disappeared just as soon as it came. It looked like…longing? Hermione quickly threw that thought in the rubbish bin before paying close attention to what Harry was saying.

"There isn't anyone I want to invite," Harry mumbled.

"Well, just be careful what you drink, because Romilda Vane looked like she meant business," Hermione said grimly.

She worked on her essay quietly for a bit before Harry broke the silence once again.

"Hang on a moment. I thought Filch had banned anything bought at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?"

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "And when has anyone ever paid attention to what Filch has banned?" Hermione asked without looking away from her essay.

"But I thought all the owls were being searched. So how come these girls are able to bring love potions into school?"

"Fred and George send them in disguised as perfumes and cough potions. It's part of their Owl Order Service," Hermione responded promptly.

"You know a lot about it," Harry responded in what Hermione took as a snide voice.

Hermione shot him a nasty look. How dare he bring up how Ginny spiked his drink with a love potion? It is not as if she made the love potion to make Harry Ron and…Draco fall in love with her.

Hermione used her best cold voice to say, "It was all on the back of the bottles they showed Ginny and me in the summer. I don't go around putting potions in people's drinks…or pretending to either, which is just as bad…" She trailed off suggestively, giving Harry another nasty look.

"Yeah, well, never mind that," Harry said quickly. "The point is, Filch is being fooled, isn't he? These girls are getting stuff into the school disguised as something else! So why couldn't Malfoy"—Hermione tried not to flinch at the mention of his name—"have brought the necklace into the school—?"

"Oh, Harry…not that again…" Hermione trailed off, not wanting to discuss Draco at this moment.

"Come on, why not?" Harry demanded.

"Look," Hermione said unable to hold back her sigh, "Secrecy Sensors detect jinxes, curses, and concealment charms, don't they? They're used to find Dark Magic and Dark objects. They'd have picked up a powerful curse, like the one in that necklace, within seconds. But something that's just been put in the wrong bottle wouldn't register—and anyways, love potions aren't dark or dangerous—" Hermione lied before Harry cut across her.

"Easy for you to say," He muttered ruefully wither thinking about Vane or herself. Hermione didn't care.

"—so it would be down to Filch to realize it wasn't a cough potion, and he's not a very good wizard, I doubt he can tell one potion from—"

Hermione stopped talking quickly, having heard someone move behind the bookshelves nearby. Harry noticed as well, staring at the bookshelves as they waited for the eavesdropper to appear…Hermione slightly hoped that Draco would appear from behind the bookshelf and apologize for acting so rudely and then they would kiss and—

Hermione's fantasy popped before it even could take form as Madam Pince slithered from behind the bookshelf, clutching a lamp in her withered hand as she approached them.

"The library is now closed," Madam Pince announced in her worn down voice. "Mind you return anything you have burrowed to the correct—_what have you been doing to that book, you depraved boy?_" Madam Pince shrieked.

"It isn't the library's, it's mine!" Harry said quickly, moving his book as Madam Pince lounged at him.

Hermione began to quickly pack her bag, hoping that Harry's stupid book will not get them banned from the library.

"Despoiled! Desecrated! Befouled!" She hissed violently, spit flying out of her withered lips.

"It's just been written on!" Harry said as he wrestled the books out of her talons.

Madam Pince began to hyperventilate and Hermione took that as their sign to leave. She grasped Harry's arm and towed him away from the crazed librarian.

"She'll ban you from the library if you're not careful. Why did you have to bring that stupid book?" Hermione demanded as they walked back to Gryffindor tower.

"It's not my fault she's barking mad, Hermione. Or d'you think she overheard you being rude about Filch? I've always thought there might be something going on between them…" Harry trailed off suggestively, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, ha ha…"

Hermione and Harry managed to have a normal argument on whether or not madam Pince and Filch are dating. Hermione was glad that her and Harry finally had a normal talk that didn't evolve around Ronald or Draco.

As soon as they walked in the common room, Vane jumped on Harry, offering a gillywater. Hermione just gave him her 'what-did-I-tell-you?' look over her shoulder as Harry rejected the drink but Vane was persistent, giving him Chocolate Cauldrons with firewhiskey and laced with love potion. Harry accepted the cauldrons awkwardly before hurrying after Hermione.

"Told you. Sooner you ask someone, sooner they'll leave you alone and you can—'

Hermione stopped talking, face going blank as she came face to face with Ron and Lavender and their public display of affection. Hermione tried to tell herself that she didn't care but the wound is still fresh and…it hurt.

"Well, good night, Harry," Hermione said in an emotionless voice before walking away. She reminded herself that she only had one more day left and then she'll be home with her parents…Her loving, caring parents.

* * *

><p>Though Hermione had went to bed feeling unbearably sad over the events of the day she woke up feeling unbearably angry. She is upset with Ron for kissing Lavender after agreeing to be her date to Slughorn's Christmas party and she is upset with Draco for being so cruel when she had given him the antidote.<p>

She went to breakfast angry and she went to class angry. She was so upset with them that she burned the essay she had written for Draco in the fireplace.

During Transfiguration, Hermione had laughed at Ron when he accidentally gave himself a hideous mustache. She really couldn't help herself because he looked ridiculous. Ron had retaliated by imitating her raising her hand to answer a question and Lavender and Parvati had laughed at her. Hermione froze, trying to ignore him but then she heard a quite snicker. She turned to see Draco laughing at Ron's imitation of her as well and that hurt…It hurt more than Ron's cruel imitation.

When they were released from class, Hermione had hurried away to the loo to cry. Again. She was really tired of crying and decided it would be best to swear men off for good…they only bring tears and pain.

"Myrtle? Is that you?" Hermione heard the airy voice of Luna Lovegood call.

Hermione cursed under her breath, quickly dabbing her tears away. "No, it's just me," Hermione called, hoping Luna would not hear the tears in her voice.

"Are you okay Hermione? You sound as if your heart has been broken," Luna said through the stall.

Hermione gasped before quickly wiping away her tears. She flushed the toilet and exited the stall to wash her hands. "No, I'm fine Luna. Ron was just being stupid but I am fine now."

Luna looked as if she wasn't convinced but she followed Hermione silently. Harry was waiting for Hermione outside the loo. He handed over her books, looking apologetic. Hermione said a quiet thank you before hurrying off.

"Are you alright, Granger?"

Hermione stopped in her tracks and looked over to see McLaggen. Hermione took in his appearance for the first time, noticing his smooth skin, well chiseled face, warm eyes, straight nose, and muscular form. His handsome face was marred with concern and Hermione could not decide if he is genuinely concerned or if he is just putting up a mask. She was suddenly very distracted by his attractiveness.

"Hello McLaggen…I'm just fine, thank you for asking," She said in the best strong voice she could muster.

McLaggen smiled charmingly at her and she noticed just how attractive his lips are…so full and kissable. "Feel free to call me Cormac," McLaggen said with that charming smile of his. "Now, you look as if you've been crying and I hate to see such a pretty girl crying. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better…Maybe we could go out sometime?"

Hermione refrained from raising an eyebrow at McLaggen. Who does he think she is? Some stupid bimbo like Lavender Brown?

Hermione was about to kindly reject McLaggen's offer but then she noticed Draco walking down the very corridor they are standing in.

Hermione smiled at McLaggen, batting her eyelashes as she let out a girlish giggle. "Would you fancy going to Slughorn's Christmas party with me?" Her voice had somehow loss all traces of tears and became stronger…attractive even.

McLaggen smiled cockily at her before stroking her cheek in a slow caress. "It's a date," He said huskily.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Draco glare in their direction. She ignored him, smiling flirtingly at McLaggen. "Pick me up at eight?" She asked, biting her bottom as she attempted to look alluring.

Apparently it was working because McLaggen was practically drooling on her. She wondered why she had thought him attractive.

"See you at eight Hermione," He said, winking at her.

"By Cormac," Hermione said in a flirty voice as she walked away, swaying her hips a bit.

Draco glared menacingly at her as she walked by him. Hermione just stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation before leaving to pick out an appropriate outfit for the party.

As Hermione walked down the stairs into the common room in her cherry red dress robes, McLaggen gave her such a charming smile that she felt like a princess. Ron was just walking through the portrait hole and gave McLaggen a disdainful look before looking at Hermione…and then it was the Yule Ball all over again. Hermione is looking beautiful, taking a beautiful person to the dance and Ron is all alone, sulking with the hag he calls a girlfriend.

She smiled as she took McLaggen's arm, ignoring Ron completely…Too bad she couldn't shake Draco and his nasty words out of her mind. She decided to make a New Years Resolution early. Next year, she would get over Ronald and…take a shot at Malfoy. She doesn't know exactly what, but there is something there. Something worth going for.

AN: I decided to leave the party out because we all know that Hermione basically just gets sexually harassed by McLaggen and there really is no point in describing it...and yeah. I hope you guys liked it!


	7. I'll be Your Super Man

**AN:** Sorry for the wait, hectic couple of weeks at school. Now I am pretty much done with school because AP courses are pretty much over after the test. Thank you for all of the lovely reviews and favorites! _Read and enjoy._

**Just One Drop**

_Chapter Seven: I'll be Your Super Man_

"Oh, darling, what have you done with your hair?" Mrs. Granger asked with her hands planted firmly on her hips, eyeing Hermione's hair disapprovingly.

Hermione twirled a strand of her honey colored hair around her finger. "Ginny thought it would look better," Hermione muttered, glancing at her mother. "I guess we could change it back to its original bark brown if you would like."

"Yes, I would like that a lot. Are you okay, darling? You look a bit put out," Mrs. Granger said, cupping Hermione's face in her hands.

"I am just fine, mum. Where is dad?" Hermione asked, avoiding eye contact as she glanced around the train station.

"We had an emergency at work. Jude McCalman managed to crack his jaw on the pavement this afternoon. Your father is just busy making it right," Mrs. Granger explained as she wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"Don't you want to say goodbye to your friends, love?" Mrs. Granger asked as Hermione led them to the exit.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at the bright orange group of people. They all looked so happy without her…

"I already said goodbye. Besides, we need to hurry if you want to change my hair color and make it to Aunt Maisie's for dinner."

Mrs. Granger nodded as she followed her daughter to the car.

* * *

><p>"Dear Princess, what is troubling you?"<p>

Hermione looked into the blue eyes of her Aunt Maisie. "Oh, I am just a bit tired Aunt Maisie. The courses I decided to take this year turned out to be a lot more difficult that I had previously expected."

Aunt Maisie smiled widely at Hermione. "Perhaps you should spend some time with Florence. I tried to tell that girl to come down for dinner but she wouldn't listen to me, declaring that she is not hungry. Can you believe these girls today Gracie? They never seem to eat!"

"Our Hermione has never had a problem with eating but she does look frightfully thin," Mrs. Granger said, looking Hermione over.

"Don't fret over Princess. I believe that is just the way her body will be. She will always be that skinny girl with knobby knees and small breast with that wild hair," Aunt Maisie said.

Hermione kept her eyes trained on the steak and kidney pie in front of her. Bushy hair, knobby knees, small breast, and wild hair. No wonder Draco doesn't want her.

"Florence is adorable, though," Mrs. Granger protested. "She has such pretty hair and an adorable face! I am sure she eats just as much as the rest of us."

"She eats just as much as the girls at that school—nothing."

Hermione glanced at her father and uncle. They were engaged in a quiet conversation about football. She looked over at the empty chair that should be occupied by her cousin Florence.

"Does Florence have many friends?" Mrs. Granger asked.

Hermione began stuffing her face with food, trying to ignore the conversation.

"Oh yes, Florence is very popular. She has many friends. How about our dear Princess Hermione? Does she have many friends from her school?"

"Hermione has friends but I wish she would converse with girls more than boys. She doesn't seem to relate to them and I am very afraid she won't have many friends in life."

Hermione could feel Aunt Maisie's eyes on her. "She should spend the weekend after Christmas here with Florence. Florence has many girlfriends that she can introduce Princess to."

Hermione gave her mother a look that said, "No mum! Please don't do this to me!"

Mrs. Granger smiled at Aunt Maisie. "Of course, Hermione would love that!"

Aunt Maisie gave Hermione a wide smile. "How wonderful! Hermione, Princess of Sparta, coming to pay us a visit! Florence is honored!"

Oo0oO

"Mum, I don't want to spend any time with Florence or Aunt Maisie!" Hermione protested once they were a safe distance from the house. Meaning, once they were down the driveway and walking along the pavement to the car.

"Princess, I wouldn't kill you to spend some time with another female! Besides, she's your cousin. You two should get along just fine," Mrs. Granger said dismissively as Mr. Granger opened the car door for her. "Thank you, Arnold."

"Dad, tell mum she's mad if she thinks I'll get along with those two for an entire weekend! I could barely stand dinner!"

"Don't tell your father what to do!"

"Gracie, Princess may have a point," Mr. Granger said as he pulled away from the curb to drive down the deserted street.

Hermione smiled gratefully at her father. "Mum, I can't stand the way Aunt Maisie calls me Princess of Sparta! Just because my name is Hermione doesn't mean I'm the Princess of Sparta!"

"It's just a nickname, Princess. You're spending the weekend with them and that is final!"

"Dad!"

"Listen to your mother, Princess."

Hermione folded her arms across her chest and leaned back into the seat. Mrs. Granger ignored her, perfectly content to let her daughter pout for the rest of the night.

* * *

><p>"Mum, why do Muggles decorate Christmas trees with stringed popcorn?"<p>

"What?"

"Why do we put stringed popcorn on Christmas trees?" Hermione tried again.

"I dunno, Princess. It's just a tradition. When you're done with your hot chocolate, get ready for bed. Christmas is tomorrow and you need to be well rested."

Hermione nibbled on her peppermint stick before standing up. "Goodnight, mother."

"Goodnight dear!"

Hermione took her hot chocolate with her as she went upstairs to her bedroom. She set the mug down on her dresser before changing into her pajamas and wrapping a robe around her thin frame. Hermione grabbed her mug and sat down in her window seat, watching the street. She doesn't know how long she sat there watching the street as the house around her slept but she was startled as a giant bird hit her window.

Hermione screamed in shock, jumping out of her window seat. She quickly covered her mouth, not wanting to wake her parents. She stood there with her hand over her mouth as she began to calm down.

The bird that had hit her window managed to open the window with its impressive beak before flying into her bedroom. The bird perched on her window sill, flapping its wings. The bird appeared to be an owl but…larger. The large owl is big with tan and black feathers and large amber eyes. The large owl stared at her with those unwavering eyes and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

Hermione walked to the other side of the room to get a better view of the large owl, to see if it was carrying a message for her. It was then that Hermione recognized the large bird from all the times she has seen it flying around the Great Hall when the morning post arrived. She recalled all of the times it swooped in with its large wings and landed on the table in front of Draco with his gifts from home.

"If you're here then…?" Hermione trailed off, looking out of her window. She nearly fell over in shock at the sight awaiting her in the front garden.

Standing under the gleam of the moonlight is none other than Draco Malfoy. He stood in the grass, wrapped in a dark cloak with his broom in his hand and a nervous smile on his aristocratic face.

Hermione hurried over to the cracked window and shoved it all the way open. She leaned out the window and peered down at him.

"Draco? What are you doing here?" She hissed loudly, glancing around nervously to make sure no one overheard.

"I just wanted to talk to you," Draco said, giving her a charming smile.

"Well, I don't want to talk to you!" Hermione snapped before shutting her window.

She sat down on her window seat with a huff, crossing her arms angrily across her chest. Draco's eagle owl swooped around her room before perching on her bent knee. It stared at her with those haunting eyes.

"I'm not going to talk to him until he apologizes," Hermione told the bird.

He nipped her leg and gave her a look she took as, 'How do you expect him to apologize if you refuse to talk to him?'

Hermione sneered at the bird because he is right. "I don't want to talk to him just yet!"

The bird looked at her before turning his head in a gesture she took as him calling her a baby.

"I am not a baby! My feelings are just hurt and that does not make me a baby!" Hermione snapped irritably.

It was then that she noticed that she is having a one sided conversation with a bird. She giggled, dropping her face in her hands.

"Oh, I've gone mad!" She told the bird as she stroked the feathers on his back. "I guess I can talk to Draco," She murmured.

The bird flew around the room as she stood up before landing on her shoulder. Hermione quietly walked down the hall and then down her stairs and out the front door to the garden where Draco is waiting for her.

"Draco," Hermione said curtly in greeting as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Hermione…" Draco trailed off, looking at her with such intensity burning in his gray eyes that she had to look away.

"What do you want with me? I'm just a filthy Mudblood…" She trailed off, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.

"Don't say that!" Draco replied quickly, taking her hand in his. "Hermione, I apologize for what I said. It was completely uncalled for and I don't know what I was thinking. I am stupid, obnoxious, spoiled, and irrational. A Malfoy never regrets anything but I regret the way I treated you, I regret what I said. You have no idea how bad I feel and how much I miss you. I really—"

He stopped talking suddenly and wet his lips nervously with his tongue. "Say you'll forgive me," He pleaded.

Hermione cursed herself for being so weak before nodding her head. Draco smiled before quickly wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a tight embrace. He buried his face in her hair, pressing his lips to her forehead as she clung to him. He trailed his thin lips along her jaw line before kissing her face as he cupped her face in his hands so that he could kiss her.

Hermione turned away quickly, shaking her head at him with a small apologetic smile on her face. Draco raised an eyebrow at her before attempting to kiss her again. Hermione quickly turned her head again, rejecting his kiss. Draco glared at her before grabbing her face and attempting to kiss her once again. Hermione tilted her head—with some difficulty due to the tight hold he has on her—so that he kissed her chin.

"Yes?" Hermione asked innocently as he glared at her.

"Am I not allowed to kiss you?" He demanded angrily.

"Just because I've forgiven you does not mean we are together or that you can kiss me. I have forgiven you but I am still angry because you were very cruel to me."

"But I apologized."

"And I forgave you."

"Then I don't see with the problem is."

"You still haven't made up for all the cruel things you've said and done to me."

"You slapped me in third year so I believe we are even."

"That was for Hagrid. Sorry, doesn't count."

Draco looked at Hermione with a mixture of amazement and disbelief. "You're impossible!"

Hermione just smiled at him. "Thank you, I take pride in that."

"Just one kiss?" Draco pleaded, making a move to grab her once again.

Hermione avoided his hands and shook her head. "I don't think so, Draco."

"Then let me buy you a drink."

"It's nearly midnight!"

"So?"

Hermione crossed her arms across her chest, jutting her hip out to the side as she observed Draco quietly with a small smile on her face.

"I normally wouldn't go out this late but you have convinced me. Let me go get dressed and then we can go anywhere you like."

* * *

><p>"I don't know how you can live around a bunch of…Muggles," Draco said, refraining from making a disgusted face as they walked along the pavement.<p>

"I wouldn't expect someone as close minded as you to understand, Draco," Hermione said calmly as she stopped in front of a pub.

"I want you. If I were closed minded then I wouldn't go after you even though it's wrong," Draco pointed out as he opened the door for her.

"No, you went after me because you're selfish. When you want something you get it. Well…at least that's what you seem to think."

"I got you, didn't I?" Draco asked as he looked around the dimly lit pub.

"Now one has 'got me'," Hermione said, holding her fingers up in quotation marks.

"What is the legal drinking age?" Draco asked as he looked at the bar.

"You're above the law, aren't you Draco? Just use your wand," Hermione said as she sat down on a bar stool.

Draco sat down next to her before ordering something from the barman. She didn't know what he ordered because she didn't listen. When the barman pushed a mug of a steaming drink with white foam, Hermione sniffed it cautiously before taking a sip.

Draco watched her as she licked the white foam off her top lip, eyes following the movement of her tongue. Hermione glanced at him and blushed.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No, it's just…you're beautiful Hermione. You really are, I always thought so…even before the Yule Ball. I know that's when Weasel began to notice you…You know, really notice you. I noticed you from the first day when you bravely walked up to be sorted. I remember wondering who you were and hoping you'd be placed in Slytherine."

"Then why were you so cruel to me?" Hermione asked before taking another sip of her steaming drink. She already knew the answer.

Draco shrugged, looking slightly ashamed of himself. "Well…I was raised to despise your kind."

"My kind?"

"Hermione, can we not talk about this right now? I don't want to discuss how much of an arrogant, spineless git I am at this moment. I don't want to think about blood status, the Dark Lord, or your _Chosen One_. I just want to act normal. I want us to be two normal people without anything holding us apart. Forget about blood status and our friends. Let's just be together for now because I have no idea how much time we have."

Hermione stared into the ice coldness of his eyes, wrapping her hands tightly around her mug. He is right…She doesn't know how much time they have and it certainly is not an ample amount of time. They are walking on two different paths, heading for separate destinies. Hermione could only nod. Draco smiled and placed his hand over hers.

She was surprised by the coldness of his hands, how frail they feel. Hermione looked down at his hand and cradled it in both of hers. She noticed the thinness of him, the frailty. His skin was almost transparent…He looks sick, unhealthy. She looked at him, studying the dark circles under his pale eyes. She looked at him, silently asking why. He pressed his lips into a thin line, giving a slight shake of the head.

Hermione pressed her lips against his knuckles. Draco gently cupped her face in his hands, running his thumb along her cheeks. She placed a hand over his, leaning over to press her lips against his.

* * *

><p>"Some times I just wish time would stop. I feel as if I never have enough time. There is never enough time."<p>

Hermione glanced at Draco. He blended in with the snow around them, only the blackness of his clothes and the gray of his eyes standing out in the cold fluff. They are back at Hogwarts, spending the small time they have together before Harry would be back and she would have to leave him.

"What do you mean?" Hermione whispered, sticking a gloved hand in the snow.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking aloud."

"I had a time turner once."

"Really? How did you get one? Father tells me that they are really hard to acquire and takes a loud of paper work."

"Professor McGonagall managed to get me one in third year because I wanted to take so many classes. I could hardly handle it and ended up dropping a few classes so that I'd have a normal schedule again. I'm no Super Woman."

"I think you are," Draco said quietly.

Hermione rolled her eyes, smiling. "Yeah, just minus the laser eye vision and flying powers."

"What?"

Hermione glanced at Draco. "Have you never heard of Super Woman?"

He shook his head, looking perplexed.

"Super man?" Another shake of the head. "Iron man?" Another shake. "The incredible Hulk?" Shake. "Spider Man?" Shake with an eyebrow raise.

"Who are these…I want to say people but I am not sure if that is the right word."

Hermione smiled before leaning into his side. She could feel the coldness of his body through the layers of clothes separating their skin.

"Muggles like to…invent fictional characters with powers that they do not possess. Super heroes are normal humans with super powers such as the ability to fly and spin spider webs," Hermione explained in a quiet voice.

"How is spinning spider webs a power?" Draco asked, sounding confused.

"Well, Spider Man was bit by a radioactive spider and acquired spider powers. He was much stronger, had better vision, could shoot spider webs out of his hands, and he could crawl on walls."

"Who would want those powers? They sound superfluous," Draco muttered as he took Hermione's hand in his as if to inspect her wrist for spider webs.

"Muggles do not have magic like us so having any powers at all, no matter how superfluous the powers may or may not sound, is appealing. Any powers sound appealing if you do not have any powers at all," Hermione whispered, watching as his cold fingers slipped under her sleeve to trace patterns on her wrist.

"I guess that makes sense," He muttered. "Tell me about the…iron man. What is his power?"

"Well, Iron Man does not really have a power—"

"How is he a super hero if he does not have powers?" Draco interrupted, sounding confused.

"Iron Man is really Tony Stark and he is really intelligent. Tony Stark owns a weapon building company. He makes Muggle war weapons such as missiles and guns. A missile is a weapon of mass destruction that Muggles aim at their enemy and when it hits, a giant explosion occurs depending on the power of the missile. Guns are similar but they are hand held and shoot metal bullets at a fast speed. The bullet tears through the body and causes eternal damage that can lead to death."

"Tony Stark sounds like a good guy," Draco said sarcastically.

Hermione ignored his comment. "He used his knowledge to make a metal suit that can fly and shoot missiles and bullets. He uses his suit to help the world and eliminate terrorist."

"Is his suit made of iron?"

"Well, no."

"Then why is his name Iron Man?"

"Super Heroes normally do not choose their own name. The public gives them a name and it just sticks."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence then, Hermione leaning on Draco and Draco examining her wrist, his fingers tracing over her veins. She wondered what he was thinking, what his life is like under Voldemort's thumb but she knew he would not tell. He never wanted to speak of the reasons why they cannot work and Voldemort falls under that category.

"What powers does Super Woman have?" Draco asked after a moment.

"Super Woman is the female version of Super Man. She basically has all of his powers—flight, laser eye vision, super strength. They are supposed to be virtually indestructible."

Draco was silent again. He brought Hermione's wrist to his mouth and kissed the pale expanse of flesh. Hermione blushed, looking off to the side.

"I wish I could be your Super Man…Indestructible and strong."

"Everyone is super in their own way Draco," Hermione said with a small smile.

"I believe you are correct Miss Granger."

Hermione whirled around to see the tall, thin figure of Albus Dumbledore standing over her. Hermione blushed, quickly sitting up with a small smile on her face.

"Good morning Professor Dumbledore," She said quickly, curtseying for some reason she did not understand. "I trust that you had a good holiday?"

"Yes, my holiday was very relaxing indeed," Dumbledore said with a smile, his blue eyes twinkling. "How was your holiday Miss Granger?" His eyes went to Draco before landing back on Hermione with a gentle smile on his face.

"My holiday was satisfactory, Sir," Hermione said, trying to fight her blush away.

"I am very glad to hear it, Miss Granger. How was your holiday Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco paled visibly at being addressed by Dumbledore. He muttered something incoherent under his breath before quickly hurrying away, stumbling as he went.

Hermione stared after Draco, brow furrowed with worry.

"In due time Miss Granger. Some things just take a little time. Mr. Malfoy will come around."

Hermione looked at Dumbledore, unsure of what to say. Dumbledore smiled at her before handing her a scroll.

"Miss Granger, I hope you do not mind passing my letter along to Harry. He is lucky to have such a good friend as yourself. Loyalty is hard to come across these days while we face such hard times. Mr. Malfoy is also very lucky to have earned your loyalty as well. I will be seeing you around. Have a nice day Miss Granger."

Dumbledore bowed slightly before walking away. Hermione stared after him, unsure of what to say and slightly worried. What if he mentioned something to Harry…?

Hermione took a deep breath and shook her head. Dumbledore would not say anything to Harry. Harry is brilliant and all but…he could be a bit closed minded when it comes to people he does not like.

Hermione glanced over her shoulder at Hagrid's hut, eyes following the cloud of smoke that billowed from the chimney. She pictured Hagrid's smiling face and large beard and had the sudden desire to stroke Buckbeak's soft feathers and feed him dead ferrets.

Hermione tucked the letter in her pocket before following the familiar trail to Hagrid's hut with the strongest desire for his large mugs of tea.


End file.
